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HEREDITY 
AND   CHRISTIAN    PROBLEMS 


806 


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4 


HEREDITY 


AND 


CHRISTIAN     PROBLEMS 


BY 

AMORY   H.    BRADFORD 


/ZSS^ 


THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:    MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1902 

A  a  rights  reservtd 

R/IAR  1904 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  M  ACM  ill  an  AND  CO. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  November,  1895.      Reprinted  October, 
1896;  January,  1899  '■  January,  1902. 


NorfaootJ  ^rrss 

J.  S.  Gushing  &.  Co.  -  Berwick  i  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


|l   -V 


a 


8^0  tJje  iPltmorg  of  mg  Jfiotfjet 


PREFACE 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  there  have 
been  great  changes  in  the  thought  of  the  world. 
At  the  beginning  of  that  time  the  doctrine  of 
evolution  was  just  coming  to  the  front  and  had 
hardly  begun  to  be  applied  to  the  sciences  of 
theology  and  of  human  society.  The  very  word 
sociology  was  nearly  if  not  quite  unknown.  The 
method  of  human  reasoning  was  largely  a  priori. 
But  during  the  last  few  years  all  has  been 
changed.  Now  the  science  of  sociology  has 
taken  its  place  beside  theology,  and  even  dis- 
putes its  claim  to  be  queen  of  the  sciences ;  now 
theology  itself  is  studied  inductively.  Its  teachers 
no  longer  form  their  theories  and  then  endeavour 
to  adjust  facts  to  them;  but  they  study  the  facts 
of  human  nature  and  divine  revelation  and  from 
them  derive  their  theories.  In  some  respects 
the  progress  of  science  has  affected  theology 
very  little.  It  has  in  no  way  altered  our  doc- 
trines of  God,  of  the  need  of  human  redemption, 
or  of   the   fact  that   such   redemption   has   been 


VIU 


PREFACE 


provided.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  given 
a  philosophical  basis  for  what  the  early  theo- 
logians loosely  called  "  original  sin ;  "  it  has  made 
necessary  an  entirely  new  study  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  will  and  of  human  accountability.  More 
than  most  persons  dream,  the  old  ways  of  pre- 
senting such  truths  have  disappeared,  and  would 
no  longer  be  tolerated  even  by  those  that  call 
themselves  conservc^tives.  There  is  no  philo- 
sophical basis  for  the  ideas  of  reprobation  and 
condemnation  for  sins  never  committed.  There 
is  no  longer  need  of  arguing  against  such  teach- 
ing ;  it  has  gone,  and  would  nevermore  be  heard 
if  it  were  not  raised  from  its  grave  every  now 
and  then  by  over-zealous  opponents,  who  igno- 
rantly  imagine  that  they  are  fighting  against 
living  antagonists.  It  would  be  a  great  gain 
in  Christian  pulpits  if  there  could  be  a  clearer 
understanding  of  what  is  already  dead  and  buried. 
The  living  forces  of  evil  are  so  numerous  and 
so  vital  that  no  time  should  be  spent  in  battling 
against  exploded  theories. 

Among  all  the  changes  wrought  by  science, 
no  fact  is  clearer  than  that  it  has  made  essential 
an  entirely  new  system  of  education.  The  old 
educators  studied  books ;  the  new  study  life :  the 
old    emphasized   knowledge;    the   new    say,    Not 


PREFACE  ix 

less  knowledge  but  more  careful  study  of  the 
pupil.  Formerly  the  world  asked,  What  do 
these  teachers  know  about  arithmetic,  grammar, 
geography,  etc.  .-"  but  now  the  inquiry  is  also, 
What  do  these  teachers  know  about  children  ? 

In  the  same  way,  all  that  belongs  to  the  sphere 
of  penology  has  undergone  a  radical  transforma- 
tion. The  old  theories  were  that  the  offender 
was  an  object  of  vengeance,  and  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  government  merely  to  protect  itself  and 
punish  law-breakers ;  but  the  new  teaching  is 
that  no  criminal  ceases  to  be  a  man,  and  that 
government  is  charged  not  only  with  the  pro- 
tection of  its  citizens  but  also  with  the  salvation 
of  its  offenders.  This  teaching  is  yet  only  dimly 
realized,  and  is  still  vigorously  denounced  by 
many  v/ho  have  not  fully  grasped  the  teachings 
of  Christ ;  but  it  is  steadily  making  headway,  and 
it  cannot  be  long  before  the  redemptive  duties 
of  government  will  be  better  appreciated.  In 
order  that  that  duty  may  be  properly  discharged, 
the  criminal  classes  must  be  carefully  studied  in 
themselves.  What  are  these  men  in  their  essen- 
tial nature  .-•  What  tendencies  are  in  them  ? 
Where  did  their  tendencies  come  from  .-•  What 
forces  are  at  work  upon  them .-'  No  man  is  fit 
to  make  laws  for  criminal  classes  that   has   not 


3j  PREFACE 

made  a  study  of  heredity  and  the  circumstances 
in  which  human  life  is  passed. 

Moreover,  in  these  days,  in  theological  circles 
at  least,  much  is  being  said  about  "the  return 
to  Christ,"  and  the  demand  is  that  all  questions 
of  theology  and  sociology  should  be  referred  to 
Him  for  adjustment.  All  this  is  well;  but  the 
return  to  Christ  means  not  only  a  return  to  His 
teaching  but  a  new  study  of  His  person.  Why 
should  He  be  trusted  more  than  others  ?  If  He 
is  to  be  ranked  in  the  category  of  the  world's 
teachers,  the  return  to  Christ  means  one  thing ; 
if  He  was  a  unique  Being  who  cannot  be  classi- 
fied with  the  seers,  sages,  and  masters  of  the 
past,  the  answer  will  be  altogether  different. 
This  book  is  not  an  attempt  at  anything  original 
in  the  way  of  scientific  investigation ;  it  takes 
facts  that  are  now  the  commonplaces  of  science 
and  endeavours  to  apply  them  to  some  of  the 
problems  that  face  every  Christian  thinker  and 
worker,  and,  indeed,  almost  every  man  of  every 
phase  of  faith  who  seeks  the  welfare  of  his 
fellow-men.  It  is  not  offered  as  a  solution  of 
ever-recurring  problems,  but  it  is  hoped  that  it 
may  help  at  least  a  little  toward  their  solution. 
The  problems  of  the  ages  are  the  same.  Each 
generation  as  it  passes  adds  a  little  to  the  sum 


PREFACE 


XI 


of  human  knowledge,  and  some  time  in  the  long 
future,  as  the  result  of  the  labours  of  those  that 
have  gone  before  them,  we  may  hope  that  men 
will  no  more  see  "  through  a  glass  darkly,  but 
face  to  face."  In  the  meantime,  it  is  occasion 
for  devout  thanksgiving  that,  largely  as  the  re- 
sult of  recent  scientific  progress,  the  views  con- 
cerning duty  and  responsibility  are  becoming 
juster  and  more  humane ;  the  outlook  on  the 
world's  weakness  and  sorrow,  its  vice  and  crime, 
not  quite  so  discouraging ;  the  doctrines  concern- 
ing God  and  human  destiny  far  more  worthy  of 
His  immortal  children. 

It  remains  for  me  only  to  say  that  this  book 
condenses  many  years  of  study  and  thought. 
Its  chapters  have  been  written  at  different  times 
and  for  different  occasions ;  some  of  them  have 
seen  the  light  in  magazines  and  reviews,  but 
it  is  my  hope  that  they  may  be  found  not  without 
unity  in  thought  and  aim,  even  though  their  form 
may  sometimes  suggest  the  diverse  circumstances 
under  which  they  have  been  prepared.  In  almost 
every  case  I  have  made  full  acknowledgment 
of  my  indebtedness  to  various  authors.  In  a 
few  instances,  however,  the  full  reference  has 
been  lost.  In  such  cases  I  have  still  referred 
to   the   authors,   when    known,   without    attempt- 


xli  PREFACE 

ing  to   say  exactly  where  the  quotations  may  be 
found. 

I  would  seem  ungrateful  did  I  not  here  ac- 
knowledge the  valuable  assistance  that  I  have 
received  in  the  way  of  revision  from  my  friend, 
the  Rev.  William  Forbes  Cooley,  of  Chatham, 
N.J.,  who  has  rendered  me  most  efficient  ser- 
vice, and  from  my  tireless  secretary.  Miss  J.  E. 
Lockwood,  who  has  read  and  worked  over  these 
chapters  until  she  must  almost  know  them  by 
heart. 

AMORY  H.    BRADFORD. 

First  Congregational  Church, 

MONTCLAIR,  New  Jersey, 

June  29, 1895. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

The  Law  of  Heredity i 

CHAPTER    II 
Theories  of  Heredity 14 

CHAPTER   III 
Physical  Heredity 23 

CHAPTER  IV 
Intellectual  and  Moral  Heredity 35 

CHAPTER   V 
Environment 53 

CHAPTER  VI 
The  Problem  of  the  Will 70 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Problem  of  the  Home       ......    102 

xiii 


xiv  TABLE  OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   VIII 
The  Problem  of  Education 


PAGB 
I  20 


CHAPTER    IX 
The  Problem  of  Pauperism        .        .        .        •        •        -139 

CHAPTER  X 
The  Problem  of  Vice  and  Crime I73 

CHAPTER  XI 
The  Problem  of  Sin  and  the  Race         .        .        .        •     ^97 

CHAPTER   XII 
The  Problem  of  Faith 214 

CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Problem  of  the  Person  of  Christ  .        .        .        .242 

CHAPTER  XIV  c 

Conclusion ^7° 

Index ^77 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN 
PROBLEMS 

CHAPTER   I 

THE    LAW    OF    HEREDITY 

The  problem  of  which  this  book  is  a  study  is  the 
relation  of   heredity  and  environment  to  thought 
and  conduct,  with  especial  reference  to  the  facts 
and  theories  of  religion ;  or,  phrasing  it  differently, 
heredity  and  environment  as  factors  to  be   con- 
sidered by  students  of   theology  and  ethics,  and 
by   servants  of  humanity.      My  object  is  purely 
^  practical.     While  I  have  studied  the  subject  care- 
t    fully  for  many  years,  I  cannot  claim  to  be,  in  the 
*^  strict    scientific    sense,    an    original    investigator. 
^    In    these   pages   the  well-attested  results  of   the 
researches  of   others  are   gathered  and   weighed, 
not  so  much  for  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the 
subjects  themselves,  as  for  a  clearer  understand- 
ing of  their  bearing  upon  the  life  of  man  and  the 
modifications  they  call  for  in  the  theories  concern- 
ing human  duty  and  responsibility. 


2  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

No  careful  observer  can  have  failed  to  note  that 
there  is  a  growing  freedom  and  an  ampler  knowl- 
edge in  the  treatment  of  all  the  problems  that 
most  clearly  concern  the  individual  and  society. 
The  sanctity  of  facts  is  now  unquestioned.  It  is, 
no  doubt,  easier  to  study  man  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  speculative  philosopher  or  the  dogmatic 
theologian  than  by  inductive  research  into  our 
essential  nature  and  actual  environment,  but  the 
result  of  the  former  process  is  only  deeper  dark- 
ness. Inductive  study  alone  can  furnish  reliable 
knowledge  concerning  duty  and  responsibility  — 
what  man  ought  to  do  and  to  answer  for. 

I  begin  with  a  definition  of  terms,  though  that 
is  hardly  necessary,  since  few  words  are  now 
better  understood  than  heredity  and  environ- 
ment. Heredity  is  the  law  through  which  the 
individual  receives  from  his  parents  by  birth  his 
chief  vital  forces  and  tendencies,  his  physical  and 
spiritual  capital ;  environment  consists  of  "  all  the 
events  and  conditions  "  ^  surrounding  him  after- 
wards that  modify  his  nature  and  change  the 
tendency  of  his  life. 

Two  laws  govern  the  transmission  of  life,  viz. 
the  law  of  uniformity,  and  the  law  of  diversity. 
The  latter  is  shrouded  in  mystery.     It  is  the  sub- 

1  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  p.  I2. 


^ 


THE   LAW   OF   HEREDITY  3 

ject  of  much  controversy,  and  will  be  considered 
later. 

"Heredity,"  says  Ribot,  "is  that  biological  law 
by  which  all  beings  endowed  with  life  tend  to 
repeat  themselves  in  their  descendants  ;  it  is  for 
the  species  what  personal  identity  is  for  the  indi- 
vidual. By  it  a  groundwork  remains  unchanged 
amid  incessant  variation  ;  by  it  Nature  ever  copies 
and  imitates  herself."  ^  According  to  Weismann, 
it  is  "  the  process  which  renders  possible  that  per- 
sistence of  organic  beings  throughout  successive 
generations,  which  is  generally  thought  to  be  so 
well  understood  and  to  need  no  special  explana- 
tion." ^  It  is  "that  property  of  an  organism  by 
which  its  peculiar  nature  is  transmitted  to  its 
descendants."^  Each  child  not  only  is  related 
to  the  whole  race  as  a  species,  but  is  in  a  peculiar 
sense  the  offspring  of  individuals,  bearing  within 
him  signs  of  his  parentage,  not  only  in  his  bodily 
organism,  but  also,  with  equal  clearness,  in  his 
mental  and  spiritual  constitution.'*  And  this  an- 
cestral influence  is  so  prevailing  that  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  child  and  all  his  tendencies,  if  not 

^  Heredity',  Ribot,  ji__u 

2  Essays  on  Heredity,  Weismann,  Oxford  Translation,  p.  71. 

8  Ibid.  p.  72. 

*  A  Physician's  Problems,  Elam,  p.  I. 


A  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTLIN   PROBLEMS 

determined  before  his  birth,  are  at  least  so  clearly 
defined,  that  for  him  to  go  outside  the  lines  laid 
down  by  his  ancestry  will  be  very  difficult. 

The  law  of  heredity  I  make  no  effort  to  estab- 
lish ;  I  assume  it.  It  is  not  doubted  by  careful 
students  of  human  nature,  any  more  than  by  stu- 
dents of  biology.  The  mistake  should  not  be 
made  of  supposing  that  it  is  a  new  discovery,  one 
of  the  as  yet  unproven  hypotheses  of  modern 
science ;  or  that  we  owe  our  knowledge  of  it  to 
Charles  Darwin,  August  Weismann,  and  a  few 
other  scientists.  These  men  have  indeed  done 
much  in  this  field  of  research,  but  heredity  and 
environment  have  been  recognized  as  the  most 
potent  forces  in  the  development  of  life  as  long 
as  history  has  been  written. 

In  what  sense  is  there  a  law  of  heredity } 
Laws  in  nature  are  known  only  as  the  results 
of  processes  of  induction.  From  the  phenomena 
of  nature  and  life  an  invariable  order  is  inferred. 
The  something  in  obedience  to  which  that  order 
results  we  call  laws,  and  to  a  knowledge  of  these 
we  rise  by  the  study  of  apparently  isolated  facts. 
"  Suppose,"  says  Ribot,  "  all  the  facts  of  the 
physical  and  moral  universe  reduced  to  a  thou- 
sand secondary  laws,  and  these  to  a  dozen  prim- 
itive laws,   which    are    the    final    and    irreducible 


THE   LAW  OF   HEREDITY  5 

elements  of  the  world ;  let  us  represent  each  by 
a  thread  of  peculiar  colour,  itself  formed  by  a  col- 
lection of  finer  threads  ;  a  superior  force  —  God, 
Nature,  Chance,  it  matters  not  what  —  is  ever 
weaving,  knotting,  and  unknotting  these,  and 
transforming  them  into  various  patterns.  To  the 
ordinary  mind  there  is  nothing  besides  these  knots 
and  these  patterns ;  for  it  these  are  the  only 
reality ;  beyond  them  it  knows  nothing,  suspects 
nothing.  But  the  man  of  science  sets  to  work ; 
he  unties  the  knots,  unravels  the  patterns,  and 
shows  that  all  the  reality  is  in  the  threads.  Then 
the  antagonism  between  fact  and  law  disappears; 
facts  are  but  a  synthesis  of  laws,  laws  an  analysis 
of  facts."  ^  If,  now,  we  unravel  the  fabric  of 
human  life,  shall  we  find  the  threads  of  heredity 
in  its  warp .-'  Without  doubt  we  shall.  There 
are  easily  verified  facts  in  abundance  which 
make  it  evident  that  heredity  is  a  veritable  law, 
holding  true  at  once  in  the  physical,  the  mental, 
and  the  moral  spheres. 

(i)  By  the  act  of  generation  all  that  distin- 
guishes species  as  species  is  invariably  transmit- 
ted. "  Like  produces  like."  Monkeys  always 
give  birth  to  monkeys ;  birds  to  birds ;  fish  are 
the  offspring  of  fish ;    and    human   beings   inva- 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  136. 


6  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

riably  spring  from  human  parents.  No  question 
is  ever  raised  as  to  whether  "like  produces  like" 
so  far  as  it  concerns  the  transmission  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  species. 

(2)  Race  peculiarities  are  also  invariably  trans- 
mitted. The  child  of  Caucasian  parents  —  of  the 
pure  stock  —  is  always  Caucasian  in  colour,  in 
figure,  in  mental  aptitudes,  in  moral  tendencies. 
"A  spaniel  was  ne'^er  produced  by  a  bull-dog," 
nor  a  canary  by  an  eagle.  A  Shetland  pony 
never  gave  birth  to  an  Arab  steed,  nor  a  South- 
ern mustang  to  the  great  dray-horses  whose  legs 
of  iron  transport  the  produce  of  our  cities.  Pure- 
blooded  whites  never  have  negro  children,  or  vice 
versa. 

(3)  Family  and  individual  characteristics  are 
also  hereditary.  The  aquiline  nose  of  the  Bour- 
bon family,  the  fecundity  of  the  Guises  and  Mont- 
morencies,  the  taste  for  natural  history  of  the 
Darwins,  and  the  faculty  —  not  to  say  genius  — 
of  the  Bachs  for  music  are  too  well  known  to  need 
more  than  mention.  On  the  fact  that  purely  in- 
dividual characteristics  are  hereditary  are  based 
many  of  the  rules  of  life  insurance.  Men  expect 
that  children  will  resemble  their  parents,  or  not 
very  remote  ancestors,  as  regards  tendencies  to 
health  or  disease. 


THE   LAW   OF   HEREDITY 


7 


Therefore  I  think  we  may  say  with  Ribot, 
"  Heredity  always  governs  those  broadly  general 
characteristics  which  determine  the  species,  always 
those  less  general  characteristics  which  constitute 
the  variety,  and  often  individual  characteristicSo 
Hence  the  evident  conclusion  that  heredity  is 
the  law,  non-heredity  the  exception.  Suppose  a 
■father  and  mother  —  both  large,  strong,  healthy, 
active,  and  intelligent  —  produce  a  son  and  a 
daughter  possessing  the  opposite  qualities.  In 
this  instance,  wherein  heredity  seems  completely 
set  aside,  it  still  holds  good  that  the  differences 
between  parents  and  children  are  but  slight  as 
compared  with  the  resemblances."  ^ 

Heredity  acts  in  four  ways:^  — 

(i)  Direct- Heredity,  when  the  qualities  of  both 
parents  are  transmitted  to  their  offspring.  Of 
this  there  are  two  forms  :  — • 

ia)  When  the  child  takes  after  both  parents 
equally.  Of  this  there  are  probably  no  perfect 
examples.  The  disturbing  conditions  are  so  nu- 
merous as  to  make  this  type  all  but  impossible ; 
so  that  practically  there  is  always  in  the  child 
a  preponderance  of  one  of  the  parents. 

{b)  When   the   child  takes  after  both   parents, 

1  Heredity^  Ribot,  pp.  144,  145. 

2  Ibid.  p.  147. 


8  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

but  more  especially  resembles  one  of  them. 
Here,  again,  there  are  two  forms:  (i)  When 
the  heredity  takes  place  in  the  same  sex;  and 
(2)  when  it  occurs  between  different  sexes,  — 
the  more  common  form. 

(2)  Reversional  Heredity,  Atavism,  consists  in 
the  reproduction  in  the  descendants  of  the  moral 
or  physical  qualities  of  their  ancestors.  It  occurs 
frequently  between  grandfather  and  grandson, 
grandmother  and  granddaughter. 

(3)  Collateral,  or  Indirect  Heredity,  which  is 
of  rarer  occurrence  than  the  foregoing,  exists, 
as  indicated  by  its  name,  between  individuals  and 
their  ancestors  in  the  indirect  line,  —  uncle  or 
grand-uncle  and  nephew,  aunt  and  niece.  It  is 
another  form  of  atavism,  and  occurs  where  there 
is  " '  representation  of  collaterals  in  the  physical 
and  moral  character  of  the  progeny.'  We  often 
observe,"  Ribot  continues,  "between  distant  rela- 
tives .  .  .  striking  resemblances  of  conformation, 
face,  inclinations,  passions,  character,  deformity, 
and  disease."  ^ 

(4)  Heredity  of  Influence,  very  rare  from  the 
physiological  point  of  view,  and  probably  not 
proved  in  any  single  instance  in  the  moral  order. 
"  It  consists  in  the  reproduction   in    the    children 

'^Heredity,  Ribot,  pp,  170,  171. 


THE   LAW   OF   HEREDITY  ^ 

by  a  second  marriage  of  some  peculiarity  belong- 
ing to  a  former  spouse."  ^  Of  this  I  will  not 
speak.  It  has  no  special  bearing  on  the  present 
line  of  thought. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  paper  to  show 
that  this  classification  is  correct.  It  rests  on  an 
extended  induction  of  facts  which  has  been  made 
with  great  care  by  such  general  investigators  as 
Lamarck,  Darwin,  Mivart,  and  Wallace,  and  such 
special  students  of  heredity  as  Lucas,  Morel, 
Ribot,  Galton,   Elam,  and  Brooks. 

There  are  exceptions  to  this  law,  but  they  are 
neither  so  numerous  nor  so  inexplicable  as  are 
sometimes  supposed. 

Spontaneity  has  undoubted  play,  and  in  cases 
of  genius  seems  to  have  supreme  control;  but  it 
is  a  question  whether  a  more  careful  induction  of 
facts  would  not  show  what  are  called  exceptions, 
or  spontaneous  variations  from  the  primitive  type, 
to  be  in  thousands  of  instances  only  suppressed 
or  exaggerated  heredity.  In  many  other  cases 
they  could  doubtless  be  traced  to  the  influence 
of  prenatal  environment.  It  is  true  that  beauti- 
ful children  are  sometimes  born  of  ugly  parents. 
So,  also,  there  are  on  record  numerous  cases  of 
monstrosities,  such  as  that  of    Edward    Lambert 

^  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  147. 


lO  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

and  his  sons  and  grandchildren,  which  I  will 
mention  again,  where  the  conflict  between  the 
tendency  to  return  to  the  normal  type  and  the 
tendency  toward  reproduction  is  plainly  discern- 
ible. Besides  these  the  following  apparent  ex- 
ceptions to  our  law  have  been  noted.  Pericles 
had  two  imbeciles  and  one  maniac  in  his  family. 
Thucydides  was  the  father  of  a  fool  and  a  block- 
head. The  great  Germanicus  was  the  father  of 
Caligula,  Vespasian  of  Domitian,  and  Marcus 
Aurelius  of  Commodus.  "And,"  says  Lucas,  "in 
modern  history  it  is  enough  to  mention  the  sons 
of  Henry  IV.,  Louis  XIV.,  and  of  Cromwell." 

Concerning  all  exceptions  to  the  law  of  hered- 
ity there  are  two  theories  :  (i)  That  of  Lucas, 
who  holds  that  "  the  biologic  fact  of  generation 
is  governed  by  two  laws,  —  one  of  spontaneity, 
the  other  of  heredity."  (2)  That  of  Ribot,  who 
maintains  that  "the  causes  of  spontaneity  are 
only  accidental ;  it  is  never  more  than  a  chance, 
the  result  of  the  fortuitous  play  and  concurrence 
of  natural  laws ;  but  it  is  not  the  effect  of  any 
distinct  and  special  law.  On  this  theory  there 
would  be  one  law  of  heredity  with  its  excep- 
tions, not  two  laws,  the  one  of  heredity,  the 
other  of  spontaneity."^ 

^  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  199. 


THE   LAW   OF   HEREDITY  1 1 

Brooks  inclines  to  the  former  view.  Accord- 
ing to  him,  "  We  find  in  all  except  the  lowest 
organisms  that  heredity  is  brought  about  by  two 
dissimilar  reproductive  elements,  and  we  find  that 
each  organism  is  the  resultant  of  two  factors  — 
heredity  and  variation."  ^  Again:  "The  fact,"  he 
says,  "  that  variation  is  due  to  the  male  influence, 
and  that  the  action  upon  the  male  parent  of  un- 
natural or  changed  conditions  results  in  the  varia- 
bility of  the  child,  is  well  shown  by  crossing  the 
hybrid  with  the  pure  species,  for  when  the  male 
hybrid  is  crossed  with  a  pure  female  the  children 
are  much  more  variable  than  those  born  of  a 
hybrid  mother  by  a  pure  father."^  In  other 
words,  Brooks  makes  the  predominant  influence 
of  the  male  parent,  and  not  mere  chance,  the 
cause  of  variation.  Heredity,  then,  would  be 
the  special  function  of  the  female  line. 

The  position  of  Schopenhauer  in  his  purely 
metaphysical  system  is  substantially  this,  although 
his  starting-point  is  antipodal.  As  interpreted  by 
Ribot  he  held  that  "  Whatever  is  primary  and 
fundamental  in  the  individual  —  character,  pas- 
sions, tendencies  —  is  inherited  from  the  father; 
the  intelligence,  a  secondary  and  derivative  fac- 

^  Heredity,  Brooks,  p.  314. 
"^  Ibid.  p.  321. 


12  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

ulty,  directly  from  the  mother.  He  was  pleased 
to  imagine  that  he  found  in  his  own  person  the 
irrefutable  evidence  of  this  doctrine.  Intellectual 
and  subtle  like  his  mother,  who  had  literary  tastes 
and  lived  in  Goethe's  circle  at  Weimar,  he  was, 
like  his  father,  shy,  obstinate,  intractable ;  he 
was  a  man  of  '  scowling  mien  and  of  fantastic 
judgments.'  "^ 

It  has  been  often  affirmed  also  that  sons  re- 
semble their  mothers  and  daughters  their  fathers. 
A  careful  examination  of  statistical  tables,  such 
as  those  of  Galton,  shows  that  the  reverse  is  so 
often  true  as  to  vitiate  all  theories  which  rest  on 
that  foundation.  With  the  object  of  our  inquiry 
the  causes  of  variation  might  seem  to  be  of  sec- 
ondary importance.  The  relation  of  heredity 
to  the  will,  to  character,  to  religion,  seems  at 
first  to  be  the  same,  whatever  the  theory  as  to 
the  cause  of  the  exceptions.  A  very  serious  fact, 
however,  and  a  far-reaching  question  confront 
us  at  this  point.  The  fact  is  that  the  word  varia- 
tion is  only  a  general  term  for  the  beginnings  of 
improvement  or  of  decline.  The  question  is, 
whether  man  can  so  control  or  influence  varia- 
tion as  to  insure  progress  and  prevent  degenera- 
tion }     In    other   words,  Can    acquired    traits    be 

^  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  154. 


THE   LAW   OF   HEREDITY  1 3 

transmitted  to  descendants  ?  This  introduces  us 
to  a  great  discussion  in  which,  in  our  time,  Her- 
bert Spencer  and  August  Weismann  are  the 
leaders.  Without  entering  into  that  discussion, 
I  shall  in  the  next  chapter  endeavour  to  interpret 
the  two  theories. 


CHAPTER   II 

THEORIES    OF    HEREDITY 

Students  of  biology  have  ranged  themselves 
into  hostile  camps,  controversy  between  which 
has  at  times  raged  with  a  severity  almost  worthy 
of  theologians  in  the  days  of  bell,  book,  and 
candle.  On  the  one  side  are  those  that  believe 
in  the  transmissibility  of  acquired  characteristics, 
and  on  the  other  those  that  disbelieve  in  it. 
Latterly,  these  parties  have  been  led  by  Herbert 
Spencer  and  August  Weismann,  the  latter  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  University  of  Freiburg ;  Charles 
Darwin  being  on  the  side  of  Spencer,  and  Hackel 
on  the  side  of  Weismann.  Of  these  masters  of 
science,  the  latter  has  probably  the  greater  repu- 
tation as  an  original  investigator,  while  the 
former  is  the  pre-eminent  English  philosopher 
of  our  time.  It  is  not  easy  to  state  in  simple 
terms  the  exact  difference  between  their  theories. 
They  agree  as  to  the  fact  of  heredity,  and  differ 
but  little  in  their  definitions.  They  are  at  vari- 
ance chiefly  in  their  explanations  of  the  process 
by  which  heredity  works.     Darwin,  Spencer,  and 

14 


1 

THEORIES   OF  HEREDITY  1 5 

• 
their  school  teach  that  acquired  characteristics 
are  transmitted.  Datwin  supported  the  doctrii^ 
by  his  hypothesis  of  pangenesis.  Very  sm^ 
particles,  he  thought,  infinitesimal  in  size,  are 
constantly  thrown  off  from  all  the  cells  of  the 
body ;  "  these  particles  collect  in  the  reproductive 
cells,  and  hence  any  change  arising  in  the  organ- 
ism at  any  time  during  its  life  is  represented  in 
the  reproductive  cells."  ^  The  moment  an  ex- 
planation of  the  process  by  which  characteristics 
are  transmitted  is  attempted,  the  difficulty  of  the 
problem  is  apparent.  Thus  it  is  said,  that  there 
is  growing  up  in  our  time  a  race  of  near-sighted 
men  and  women.  The  clear  vision  of  the  days 
when  our  ancestors  roamed  the  forests  and  were 
dependent  on  the  sense  of  sight  for  protection 
has  disappeared.  The  habit  of  seeing  objects  at 
short  range  in  course  of  time  made  many  men 
near-sighted ;  they  handed  down  the  peculiarity 
to  their  children,  who  increased  it,  and  in  turn 
transmitted  it,  and  so  congenital  near-sightedness 
became  common.  In  the  same  way  the  presence 
of  disease  in  many  families  is  accounted  for,  and 
also  the  possession  of  exceptional  gifts  of  body 
and  mind.     In  the   opinion  of   these  masters   of 

1  TAe  Variaiion  of  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication, 
Darwin,  Vol.  II.  pp.  349-399. 


1 6  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

biological  science,  heredity  preserves  and  trans- 
mits the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  accumula- 
tions of  the  past  as  surely  and  manifestly  as  a 
parent  passes  on  to  his  children  the  fortune 
which  he  has  acquired. 

The  teaching  of  Weismann  is  theoretically  very 
different ;  but  when  applied  to  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  to  society  much  of  its  antagonism  to 
Spencer's  doctrine  disappears.  Weismann  began 
his  inaugural  lecture  as  Pro-Rector  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Freiburg  in  1883  by  asserting  the  reality  of 
heredity  with  much  positiveness  and  amplitude, 
and  by  accepting  the  statement  of  Hackel  regard- 
ing it,  that  reproduction  is  **  an  overgrowth  of  the 
individual."  ^  He  denied  that  acquired  character- 
istics are  transmitted,  however,  and  insisted  that 
variability  is  the  result  of  organic  changes  in  the 
reproductive  cells,  which  changes  are  the  result 
chiefly  of  the  fortuitous  combinations  of  certain 
elements  in  the  germ-cells.  He  concedes,  how- 
ever, that  during  formative  periods  of  the  indi- 
vidual, environment  may  affect  the  germ-cells 
directly.  Thus  the  fact  that  short-sightedness  is 
increasing  he  also  would  doubtless  account  for  by 
heredity,  but,  instead  of  saying  that  short-sighted- 
ness  became    hereditary  when   first  acquired,  he 

1  Essays  on  Heredity,  Weismann,  p.  72. 


^  THEORIES   OF   HEREDITY  ig 

latter  only  arise  when  they  have  been  preceded 
by  corresponding  changes  in  the  former,  then  we 
can,  up  to  a  certain  point,  understand  the  princi- 
ple of  heredity ;  or,  at  any  rate,  we  can  conceive 
that  the  human  mind  may  at  some  time  be  capa- 
ble of  understanding  it.  We  may  at  least  main- 
tain that  it  has  been  rendered  intelligible,  for  we 
can  thus  trace  heredity  back  to  growth ;  we  can 
thus  look  upon  reproduction  as  an  overgrowth  of 
the  individual,  and  can  thus  distinguish  between 
a  succession  of  species  and  a  succession  of  indi- 
viduals, because  in  the  latter  succession  the  germ- 
plasm  remains  similar,  while  in  the  succession  of 
the  former  it  becomes  different."  ^ 

I  will  now  endeavour,  by  familiar  illustrations, 
to  make  clearer  these  apparently  opposing  theo- 
ries. According  to  the  view  of  those  who  believe 
that  acquired  characteristics  are  transmitted,  hu- 
man life  is  like  a  clear  stream  which  flows  from 
the  mountains.  On  its  way  it  passes  through  one 
region  after  another  in  endless  succession,  re- 
ceiving in  its  varied  course  something  from  a 
thousand  rills  and  rivulets  on  the  surface  and  in 
the  soil,  so  that  it  is  no  longer  pure  as  at  first,  but 
carries  with  it  many  and  varied  substances  from 
many  and  varied  districts.     In   other  words,  the 

1  Essays  on  Heredity,  Weismann,  pp.  105,  106. 


20  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

original  river  is  now  a  kind  of  composite  stream, 
in  which  is  something  from  every  locality  through 
which  it  has  flowed.  Such,  say  Spencer  and  his 
school,  is  the  life  which  is  in  every  man ;  it  is  not 
as  it  came  from  the  primal  source,  but  as  all  liv- 
ing beings  have  made  it.  But  Weismann  would 
say  that  the  life  of  man  is  rather  a  stream  flow- 
ing underground  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea, 
and  rising  now  and  then  in  fountains,  some  of 
which  are  saline,  some  sulphuric,  some  tinctured 
with  iron,  and  that  the  differences  in  the  foun- 
tains are  due  entirely  to  the  soil  passed  through 
in  breaking  forth  to  the  surface,  the  mother- 
stream  down  underneath  all  the  salt,  sulphur,  and 
iron  flowing  on  toward  the  sea  substantially 
unchanged. 

When,  now,  these  theories  are  applied  to 
human  beings,  the  counsels  they  would  have  for 
workers  for  humanity  would  be  widely  different 
but  for  Weismann's  concession  about  the  direct 
influence  of  environment  on  the  reproductive 
cells,  for  without  that  his  theory  would  put  the 
forces  of  heredity  entirely  beyond  human  control 
and  shut  us  up  to  the  use  of  the  environment  of, 
and  personal  appeals  to,  the  individual  for  all 
morally  progressive  work.  As  it  is,  the  outlook 
is  more  hopeful.     If  acquired  characteristics  are 


■7 

THEORIES   OF   HEREDITY  2 1 

transmitted,  the  original  substance  of  our  life  is 
at  present  in  part  corrupted,  and  in  part  devel- 
oped and  improved ;  and  if  evil  tends  to  wear 
itself  out,  and  good  characteristics  have  in  them 
elements  of  endurance,  then  the  prospect  for  man 
is  good,  since  the  final  supremacy  of  the  good 
seems  to  be  foreshadowed. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  stream  of  being 
flowing  on  from  age  to  age  remains  unchanged 
by  any  individual  acquisitions,  but  may  be  af- 
fected by  changes  in  environment,  then,  as  civ- 
ilization advances,  as  life  asserts  itself,  as  the 
environment  improves,  it  is  evident  that  the  river 
of  life  will  soon  cease  to  rise  into  fountains 
through  any  strata  which  will  taint  its  primal 
sweetness,  and  will  show  itself  in  springs  in 
which  it  shall  be  sweet  and  pure  and  cool  as 
when  it  first  gushed  from  the  mountain's  side. 
Individuals  are  hampered ;  the  men  they  might 
be  they  are  not ;  they  are  failures  or  wrecks,  not 
because  there  is  not  good  life  in  them,  but  be- 
cause it  cannot  get  expression.  If  Spencer  is 
right,  and  acquired  characteristics  are  transmis- 
sible, then  it  is  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of 
the  Christian  man  to  work  for  the  creation  of 
such  conditions  as  will  put  in  the  place  of  the  ten- 
dencies toward  evil  which  now  exist  better  traits 


22  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

of  character,  that,  these  being  transmitted,  may- 
result  in  nobler  types  of  manhood.  If  Weismann 
is  correct,  and  the  peculiarities  of  individuals 
are  due  to  their  environment,  then  the  problem 
is  simpler  still,  and  all  that  any  can  do,  or  need 
do,  is  to  seek  to  make  possible  a  full  and  true 
expression  of  the  normal  human  life. 

I  have  gone  somewhat  particularly  into  this 
difference  of  theory,  not  to  discuss  the  scientific 
question  at  issue,  but  to  show  that  the  Christian 
problems  I  am  to  consider  are  not  greatly  affected 
by  the  theory  of  heredity  that  may  be  adopted. 


'} 


CHAPTER    III 


PHYSICAL    HEREDITY 


It  will  help  us  to  form  intelligent  opinions 
concerning  the  law  of  heredity  if  we  consider  it 
more  in  detail,  and  with  illustrations.  Two  laws 
govern  the  transmission  of  life,  viz.  the  law  of 
uniformity,  and  the  law  of  diversity.  Under  the 
law  of  uniform  transmission  of  organization  chil- 
dren receive  from  their  parents  not  only  the  gen- 
eral physical  characteristics  of  their  parents,  "  but 
also  their  mental  and  moral  constitutions."^  This 
resemblance  is  not  only  in  their  original  and  essen- 
tial characteristics,  but,  some  maintain,  "  even  in 
acquired  habits  of  life,  of  intellect,  of  virtue,  of 
vice."i  Under  the  law  of  diversity  deformity  and 
ugliness  give  birth  to  manly  strength  and  beauty ; 
the  sick  bear  offspring  remarkable  for  health;  "vir- 
tue is  succeeded  by  vice,  intellect  by  imbecility, 
and  the  converse  of  all  these  phenomena."^  The 
one  law  accounts  for  all  that  comes  from  the  past ; 
the  other  law  for  all  that  is  new  and  peculiar  in 
the  development  of  life. 

1  A  Physician'' s  Problems,  Elam,  p.  4. 
21 


24  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

Illustrations  of  the  action  of  heredity  may  be 
found  in  great  abundance  in  the  works  of  Darwin, 
Weismann,  Maudsley,  Galton,  Elam,  and  the  many 
other  students  of  this  fascinating  subject.  "  Hered- 
itary influence  may  manifest  itself  in  the  limbs,  the 
trunk,  the  head,  even  in  the  nails  and  the  hair, 
but  especially  in  the  countenance,  expression,  or 
characteristic  features." ^  These  facts  were  often 
observed  in  ancient  times.  Among  the  Romans 
we  read  of  the  Nasones,  Labeones,  Buccones,  Cap- 
itones,  etc.  The  significance  of  these  names  is  in 
the  fact  that  all  were  derived  from  hereditary  pecu- 
liarities. The  family  of  the  Bentivoglios  were  dis- 
tinguished by  a  small  but  evident  tumour  which 
occurred  in  generation  after  generation,  and  which 
acted  as  a  kind  of  barometer,  predicting  atmo- 
spheric changes,  and  growing  larger  when  the 
wind  became  moist.  ^ 

An  illustration  of  indirect  heredity  is  taken 
from  Quatrefages.  He  says,  as  quoted  by  Ribot : 
"  I  am  acquainted  with  a  family  into  which  mar- 
ried a  grand-niece  of  the  illustrious  Bailli  de  Suf- 
fren  Saint-Tropez,  the  last  French  commander 
in  the  great  Indian  wars  against  the  English, 
with  Hyder  Ali  for  his  ally.     This  lady  had  two 

^  See  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  2. 
2  Ibid. 


PHYSICAL   HEREDITY  2$ 

sons,  the  younger  of  whom,  judging  from  a  very- 
fine  portrait,  bore  a  very  striking  resemblance  to 
his  great-great-uncle,  but  was  not  at  all  like  his 
father  or  mother.  The  celebrated  sailor,  there- 
fore, and  his  great-great-nephew  reproduced,  with 
an  interval  of  four  generations  between  them,  the 
features  of  a  common  ancestor."  ^  This  is  a  case 
of  indirect  heredity,  or  atavism,  acting  in  both 
branches. 

Among  the  curiosities  of  this  subject  are  the 
examples  of  anomalies  and  monstrosities.  The 
case  of  Edward  Lambert  is  often  cited.  His 
"  whole  body,  with  the  exception  of  the  face, 
the  palms  of  the  hands,  and  the  soles  of  the 
feet,  was  covered  with  a  sort  of  carapace  of  horny 
excrescences,  which  rattled  against  each  other. 
He  was  the  father  of  six  children,  all  of  whom 
from  the  age  of  six  weeks  presented  the  same 
singularity,"  ^  which  was  kept  up  through  five 
generations.  Sexdigitism  is  hereditary,  and  some 
have  declared  that  even  peculiarities  of  hand- 
writing are  transmitted.  The  handwriting  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  grandson  of  the  martyr-pres- 
ident, is  said  to  be  almost  exactly  like  that  of 
his  grandfather;    and   yet   the   grandfather   died 

1  Heredity^  Ribot,  p.  172. 

2  ii)id.  p.  7. 


26  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

when  the  grandson  was  very  young,  if  not  be- 
fore he  was  born.  The  Bourbon  family  has 
always  been  distinguished  by  the  aquiline  nose. 

Ribot  gives  a  curious  instance  showing  that 
sometimes  one  of  the  parents  transmits  the  entire 
physical,  the  other  the  entire  spiritual,  nature. 
He  says :  "  The  most  curious  and  incontestable 
instance  of  this  is  the  case  of  Lislet-Geoffrey, 
engineer  in  Mauritius.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
white  man  and  a  very  stupid  negress.  In  phys- 
ical constitution  he  was  as  much  a  negro  as  his 
mother ;  he  had  the  features,  the  complexion,  the 
woolly  hair,  and  the  peculiar  odour  of  his  race.  .  .  . 
He  was  so  thoroughly  a  white  as  regards  intel- 
lectual development  that  he  succeeded  in  van- 
quishing the  prejudices  of  blood,  so  strong  in  the 
colonies,  and  in  being  admitted  into  the  most 
aristocratic  houses.  At  the  time  of  his  death 
he  was  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences."  ^ 

In  Washington  Territory  I  myself  saw  an 
instance  which  seems  more  like  the  inheritance 
by  a  daughter  of  the  entire  nature  of  her  father. 
The  young  woman,  about  thirty  years  of  age, 
was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  form,  feature, 
and   complexion,    one   of   the   most   attractive   in 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  155. 


7 


PHYSICAL   HEREDITY 


27 


speech  and  graceful  in  manner  that  I  ever  met. 
Imagine  my  amazement  when  I  was  shown  her 
mother  —  a  stupid  old  squaw,  who  seemed  hardly- 
more  than  an  inert  mass  of  fat.  The  young 
woman  was  the  daughter  of  an  officer  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  of  this  squaw  whom 
he  had  married.  In  any  drawing-room  in  the 
world  the  daughter  would  have  attracted  atten- 
tion by  her  beauty,  and  she  no  more  resembled 
her  mother  than  a  lily  resembles  a  heap  of  sand. 
Heredity  affects  the  size  and  shape  of  the  body. 
Frederick  William  I.  had  his  favourite  regiment 
of  giants,  whom  he  would  not  allow  to  marry 
women  of  stature  inferior  to  their  own.  Their 
offspring  were  gigantic,  and  their  descendants, 
the  most  superb  specimens  of  physical  manhood 
in  Europe,  are  still  to  be  seen  in  various  parts 
of  Germany.^  It  may  be  traced  in  the  com- 
plexion. Plutarch  mentions  a  Greek  woman  who 
gave  birth  to  a  negro  child,  and  was  brought  to 
trial  for  adultery,  but  it  transpired  that  she  was 
descended  in  the  fourth  degree  from  an  Ethio- 
pian. The  story  is  officially  vouched  for  of  a 
negro  woman  who  gave  birth  to  a  white  child, 
and  was  terrified  at  what  she  supposed  would 
be  the   inference  of  her  husband,   until   he   told 

1  See  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  3. 


28  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

her  that  his  father  was  white,  and  that,  for  many- 
generations,  there  had  been  a  white  child  in  some 
branch  of  the  family.^  These,  of  course,  are 
instances  of  atavism,  which,  in  the  silk-worm, 
appears  even  after  more  than  a  hundred  genera- 
tions. 

Heredity  influences  the  internal  organism,  the 
heart,  the  osseous,  muscular,  and  nervous  sys- 
tems, and  the  siz»^  and  form  of  the  cerebral  con- 
volutions. Some  families  for  generations  are 
distinguished  by  fecundity ;  such  were  the  Mont- 
morencies,  the  Condes,  and  Guises.  Longevity 
runs  in  families.  In  some  the  line  of  threescore 
and  ten  is  almost  always  reached,  while  others 
seldom  have  aged  members.  The  Turgot  family 
is  mentioned  as  one  in  which  the  fifty-ninth  year 
was  rarely  passed. 

Diseases  run  in  families.  One  is  peculiarly 
liable  to  consumption,  another  to  insanity,  another 
to  rheumatism.  Life  insurance  companies  base 
their  calculations  on  this  fact.  A  consumptive 
parent  is  believed  to  entail  on  his  offspring  a 
tendency  to  consumption.  A  friend  of  mine  was 
refused  life  insurance  in  one  of  our  largest  com- 
panies because  his  mother  died  of  consumption, 
although  he   himself  was  a  strong  man,  and  his 

^  See  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  169. 


1 


PHYSICAL   HEREDITY  20 

father  was  vigorous  at  nearly  seventy.  M.  Es- 
quirol  says  that  one-half  the  cases  of  insanity 
amongst  the  higher  classes  in  France,  and  about 
one-third  amongst  the  lower  classes,  have  been 
inherited  from  parents  or  ancestors.  According 
to  one  authority,  seventy-seven  per  cent,  of  the 
cases  at  the  Bicetre  were  hereditary,  and,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Burrows,  eighty-four  per  cent.  Two 
important  considerations  in  regard  to  this  ques- 
tion should  be  given  full  weight :  first,  that  the 
native  inferiority  or  taint  may  be  of  very  differ- 
ent degrees  of  intensity,  so  as,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  conspire  only  with  certain  more  or  less  power- 
ful exciting  causes,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  give 
rise  to  insanity  even  amongst  the  most  favourable 
external  circumstances.  Second,  that  not  only 
insanity  in  the  parents,  but  any  form  of  nervous 
disease  in  them  —  epilepsy,  hysteria,  and  even 
neuralgia  —  may  predispose  to  insanity  in  the 
offspring ;  as,  conversely,  insanity  in  a  parent 
may  predispose  to  other  kinds  of  nervous  diseases 
in  the  offspring.^  What  is  true  of  consumption 
and  insanity  is  true  of  all  nervous  diseases,  of 
gout,  dyspepsia,  skin  diseases,  and  so  on  through 
the  list. 

^  Physiology  and  Pathology  of  the  Mind,  Second  Edition,  London, 
P-  243. 


h 


30  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

This  is  the  place  to  consider  the  heredity  of  the 
tendency  toward  intemperance.  No  one  believes 
that  intemperance  itself  is  transmissible  ;  but  that 
the  physical  condition  that  makes  intemperance 
easy,  and,  if  circumstances  favour,  almost  inevi- 
table, is  transmitted  is  clearly  taught  by  all  stu- 
dents of  this  subject  whom  I  know.  On  this  point 
testimony  is  required,  and  only  that  of  experts 
will  be  offered.  Eiam  quotes  the  following  from 
the  "  Psychological  Journal :  "  "The  most  startling 
problem  connected  with  intemperance  is,  that  not 
only  does  it  affect  the  health,  morals,  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  offspring  of  its  votaries,  but  that  tJicy 
also  inherit  the  fatal  tendency  and  feel  a  craving  for 
the  very  beverages  which  have  acted  as  poisons  on 
their  system  fro  jn  the  commencemeitt  of  tJieir  being!'  ^ 

Morel,  one  of  the  ablest  investigators  of  this 
subject,  says :  "  I  have  never  seen  the  patient 
cured  of  his  propensity  whose  tendencies  to  drink 
were  derived  from  the  hereditary  predisposition 
given  to  him  by  his  parents." 

Dr.  Hutchison  says  :  "  I  have  seen  only  one  case 
completely  cured,  and  that  after  a  seclusion  of  two 
years'  duration.  In  general,  it  is  not  cured ;  and 
no  sooner  is  the  patient  liberated  than  he  mani- 
fests all  the  symptoms  of  the  disease.  .  .  .     Such 

1  A  Physician^  P>-oble?>is,  Elam,  p.  40. 


/ 


PHYSICAL  HEREDITY 


31 


individuals   are    sane   only  when    confined    in    an 
asylum."  ^ 

We  now  come  to  one  of  the  most  terrible  feat- 
ures of  this  terrible  habit.  The  vice  of  one  gen- 
eration, when  inherited,  does  not  appear  in  the 
second  generation  merely  as  a  habit,  but  in  most 
cases  as  a  disease.  This  disease,  known  as  oino- 
mania  or  dipsomania,  is  easily  distinguished  from 
ordinary  intemperate  habits.  It  is  described  as 
"  an  impulsive  desire  for  stimulating  drinks,  un- 
controllable by  any  motives  that  can  be  addressed 
to  the  understanding  or  conscience,  in  which  self- 
interest,  self-esteem,  friendship,  love,  religion,  are 
appealed  to  in  vain ;  in  which  the  passion  for 
drink  is  the  master-passion,  and  subdues  to  itself 
every  other  desire  and  faculty  of  the  soul."^  Of 
this  class  M.  Morel  says :  "  Such  cases  present 
themselves  to  our  observation  with  the  predomi- 
nance of  a  phenomenon  of  the  psychical  order, 
which  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention,  i.e. 
a  complete  abolition  of  all  moral  sentiments.  One 
might  say  that  no  distinction  between  good  and 
evil  remains  in  the  minds  of  these  degraded 
beings.  .  .  .  They  quit  their  homes  without 
troubling    themselves  where  they  may   go ;    they 

1  A  Physician'' s  Problems,  Elam,  p.  41. 

2  Ibid.  p.  73. 


32  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

cannot  explain  the  motives  of  their  disorderly- 
tendencies  ;  their  existence  is  passed  in  the  ex- 
tremest  apathy,  the  most  absolute  indifference, 
and  volition  seems  to  be  replaced  by  a  stupid 
automatism."  1  Dr.  Elam  says:  ''Theoretically  con- 
sidered, this  impulsive  tendency  may  probably 
not  be  absolutely  irresistible,  but  practically,  it  is 
almost,  if  not  altogether  so."^ 

What  has  been  said  of  intemperance  is  still 
more  true  of  the  opium  habit.  Sometimes  the 
use  of  opium  manifests  itself  in  a  succeeding  gen- 
eration in  the  craving  for  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
sometimes  in  a  craving  for  opium.  The  elder 
Coleridge  was  an  opium  eater,  and  he  used  to  say 
that  in  all  his  relations  of  life  his  will  was  power- 
less. Hartley  Coleridge  inherited  his  father's 
imperious  desire  for  stimulants,  and  with  it  his 
weakness  of  power  to  resist.  His  brother  thus 
wrote  of  him  when  he  was  young :  "  A  certain 
infirmity  of  will  had  already  shown  itself.  His 
sensibility  was  intense,  and  he  had  not  where- 
withal to  control  it.  He  could  not  open  a  letter 
without  trembling.  He  shrank  from  mental  pain ; 
he  was  beyond  measure  impatient  of  constraint. 
.  ,  .    He  yielded,  as  it  were  unconsciously,  to  slight 

1  A  Physician' s  Problems,  Elam,  p.  74. 
*  Ibid.  p.  74. 


PHYSICAL   HEREDITY 


33 


temptations,  —  slight  in  themselves  and  slight  to 
him,  —  as  if  swayed  by  a  mechanical  impulse, 
apart  from  his  own  volition.  It  looked  like  an 
organic  defect,  a  congenital  imperfection."  ^  He 
wrote  of  himself  :  — 

"  O  !   woful  impotence  of  weak  resolve, 
Recorded  rashly  to  the  writer's  shame, 

Days  pass  away,  and  time's  large  orbs  revolve, 
And  every  day  beholds  me  still  the  same; 

Till  oft  neglected  purpose  loses  aim, 

And  hope  becomes  a  flat,  unheeded  lie." 

Thus  we  are  forced  to  face  the  fact  that  he  who 
forms  his  own  character  is  at  the  same  time  help- 
ing to  form  the  character  of  subsequent  gener- 
ations. The  pleasures  of  one  generation  may 
become  the  curses  of  the  next.  The  continuity 
of  the  race  is  a  terrible  and  remorseless  reality. 
Streams  of  tendency,  hot  with  passion-  and  lust 
and  lurid  with  disease,  flow  from  generation  to 
generation.  We  are  not  simply  ourselves ;  we 
are  also  products  of  the  past. 

These  illustrations  show  in  a  general  way  the 
operations  of  the  law.  But  narrow  the  range  of 
observation.  Particular  qualities,  dispositions,  and 
habits  are  subject  to  the  operation  of  this  law. 
We  now  face  a  fact  of  solemn  and  awful  signifi- 

^  A  Physician's  Problems^  Elam,  p.  75. 
D 


34  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

cance.  Because  of  the  interaction  of  the  laws 
of  uniformity  and  diversity  in  heredity,  it  is 
not  possible  always  to  predict  just  what  physical 
characteristics  will  be  transmitted.  Health,  or 
disease,  or  organic  peculiarities  may  not  recur, 
inherent  intellectual  or  moral  qualities  may  not 
always  be  transmitted  ;  "  but,"  says  Dr.  Elam,  "  an 
acqiih'ed  and  habitual  vice  zvill  rarely  fail  to  leave 
its  trace  upon  one  or  more  of  the  offspring,  either  in 
its  original  form  or  one  closely  allied.  .  .  .  The 
habit  of  the  parent  becomes  the  all  but  irresistible 
instinct  of  the  child ;  the  voluntarily  adopted  and 
cherished  vice  of  the  father  or  mother  becomes 
the  overpowering  impulse  of  the  son  or  daughter ; 
the  organic  tendency  is  excited  to  the  uttermost, 
and  the  power  of  will  and  of  conscience  is  pro- 
portionately weakened,  —  weighty  considerations  in 
forming  a  judgment  on  the  responsibility  of  those 
so  fatally  affected  by  this  direct  inheritance  of 
crime.  And  so  it  is  by  a  natural  law,  and  not 
by  any  arbitrary  or  unjust  interpolation  of  divine 
vengeance,  that  the  sins  of  the  parents  are  visited 
upon  the  children,  —  that  the  fathers  eat  sour 
grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge."  ^ 

1  A  Physician'' s  Problems,  Elam,  p.  5. 


CHAPTER    IV 

INTELLECTUAL    AND    MORAL    HEREDITY 

The  subject  of  heredity  becomes  far  more 
interesting  and  more  complicated  when  we  ap- 
proach the  sphere  of  mind.  Physical  illustra- 
tions are  more  easily  verified  than  mental  and 
moral.  Many  that  unhesitatingly  grant  the  oper- 
ation of  this  law  in  the  bodily  organism  strenu- 
ously deny  that  its  action  can  be  traced  in  the 
realm  of  intellect  and  morals.  But  examples  of 
intellectual  and  moral  heredity  are  not  difficult 
to  find.  The  influence  of  ancestry  on  those  now 
living  is  freely  acknowledged  by  nearly  all  great 
educators  and  religious  teachers.  Ribot  says : 
"  This  [heredity]  holds  good  also  of  psychical 
qualities :  a  given  animal  possesses  not  only  the 
general  instincts  of  the  species,  but  also  the 
peculiar  instincts  of  the  race.  The  negro  inher- 
its not  only  the  psychological  faculties  which  are 
common  to  all  men,  but  also  a  certain  peculiar 
form  of  mental  constitution,  namely,  an  excess 
of  sensibility  and  imagination,  sensual  tendencies, 
etc."  1 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  144. 
35 


36 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


Dr.  Moore  says :  "  Our  education  may  be  said 
to  begin  with  our  forefathers.  The  child  of  the 
morally  instructed  is  most  capable  of  instruction, 
and  intellectual  excellence  is  generally  the  result 
of  ages  of  mental  cultivation. 

"  Sir  A.  Carlisle  says  that  many  years  since  an 
old  schoolmaster  told  him  that,  in  the  course  of 
his  personal  experience,  he  had  observed  a  re- 
markable difference  in  the  capacities  of  children 
for  learning,  which  was  connected  with  the  educa- 
tion and  aptitude  of  their  parents ;  that  the  chil- 
dren of  people  accustomed  to  arithmetic  learned 
figures  quicker  than  those  of  differently  edu- 
cated persons ;  while  the  children  of  classical 
scholars  more  easily  learned  Latin  and  Greek ; 
and  that,  notwithstanding  a  few  striking  excep- 
tions, the  natural  dulness  of  children  born  of 
uneducated  parents  was  proverbial."  ^  "I  think," 
says  a  careful  observer,  "  the  hereditary  powers 
will  generally  be  found  best  calculated  to  do  that 
which  the  parents,  through  successive  generations, 
have  done."  ^ 

The  investigations  of  biologists  have  been  de- 
voted to  physiological  rather  than  to  psychological 
phenomena;    but   another   class   of   investigators 

^  A  Physician''s  Problems,  Elam,  pp.  32,  33. 
2  Ibid.  p.  33. 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY 


37 


have,  with  Hke  care,  studied  the  action  of  the 
law  in  the  region  of  the  mind.  This  inquiry 
brings  us  no  doubt  to  questions  at  issue  between 
materiahsts  and  spirituaHsts,  but  the  answer  is 
unaffected  by  that  discussion.  If  mind  is  the 
product  of  matter,  and  heredity  is  a  physiological 
law,  then  of  course  it  concerns  the  whole  man. 
If  the  spiritual  nature  is  independent,  if  it  dwells 
in  the  body  as  a  man  in  his  house,  then  there  are 
distinct  phenomena  to  which  the  appeal  can  be 
made.  If,  in  the  third  place,  there  is  a  mutual 
relation  between  the  body  and  the  mind,  if  each 
modifies  the  other,  and  heredity  is  a  law  of  the 
material  organism,  then  it  must  also  be  a  law 
which  so  intimately  concerns  the  mind's  action  as 
to  make  its  study  essential  to  any  scheme  of  spir- 
itual philosophy.  The  investigations  of  Galton 
are  almost  entirely  in  the  sphere  of  mind,  and 
he  has  certainly  shown  that  mental  and  moral 
characteristics  are  hereditary ;  that  a  child  resem- 
bles its  parents  quite  as  closely  in  mind  as  in  body. 
In  tables  illustrating  the  heredity  of  the  imagi- 
nation, I  find  a  list  of  fifty-one  of  the  most  eminent 
poets  of  the  world,  and  of  that  number  twenty-two 
are  known  to  have  had  illustrious  relatives.  Prob- 
ably many  more  of  them  had  relatives  who  pos- 
sessed the  soul  of  genius,  without  the  opportunity 


38  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

for  its  manifestation.  The  family  of  yEschylus 
numbered  eight  poets.  Burns  had  his  mother's 
sensibiUty. 

Coleridge  was  a  poet  and  a  metaphysician.  The 
following  abridged  list  of  his  descendants  is  taken 
from  Galton.  His  son  Hartley  was  also  a  poet, 
and  subject  in  his  precocious  childhood  to  visions. 
His  imagination  was  singularly  vivid,  and  of  a 
morbid  character.  He  inherited  also  his  father's 
love  for  stimulants.  The  Rev.  Derwent  Coleridge, 
another  son,  was  an  author  likewise,  and  principal 
of  the  Chelsea  Training  College.  The  daughter, 
Sara,  was  also  a  writer,  and  possessed  all  her 
father's  individual  characteristics.  She  married 
her  cousin,  and  of  this  union  was  born  Herbert 
Coleridge,  a  philologist.  If,  now,  the  lineages  of 
Goethe,  Hugo,  Milton,  etc.,  are  studied,  it  will 
hardly  need  an  argument  to  show  that  heredity 
works  among  the  poets. 

Among  artists,  it  is  sufficient  to  note  that  Flax- 
man  was  the  son  of  a  moulder  of  plaster  casts ; 
Thorwaldsen  was  the  son  of  a  poor  sculptor ;  and 
Raphael's  father  was  a  painter,  as  was  also  the 
mother  of  Vandyke ;  but  the  law  may  be  studied 
further  in  the  families  of  Bassano  and  Bellini, 
Paul  Veronese,  Carracci,  Murillo,  Teniers,  Titian, 
and  Van  Der  Velde. 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY         39 

^he  hereditary  character  of  musical  talent  is 
well  known.  Allegri,  author  of  the  "  Miserere," 
was  of  the  same  family  as  Correggio  the  painter, 
and  the  artistic  talents  are  probably  radically  one, 
whether  they  be  manifested  in  rh3^thm,  in  colour, 
or  in  sweet  sounds.  Andrea  Amati  was  only  the 
most  illustrious  member  of  a  family  of  violinists 
at  Cremona ;  Mozart's  father  was  a  violinist ; 
Beethoven  was  the  son  of  a  tenor  singer ;  and 
Mendelssohn  was  of  a  musical  family.  The  Bachs 
supply  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  instance  of 
mental  heredity  on  record.  The  family  began  in 
1550,  and  lasted  through  eight  generations,  to  the 
year  1800.  During  a  period  of  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  it  produced  a  number  of  artists  of  the 
first  rank.  There  is  no  other  instance  of  so  many^ 
remarkable  talents  in  a  single  family.  Its  head 
was  Weit  Bach,  a  baker  of  Presburg,  who  used 
to  seek  relaxation  from  labour  in  music  and  song. 
He  had  two  sons,  who  commenced  the  unbroken 
line  of  musicians  of  the  same  name  that,  for  nearly 
two  centuries,  may  be  said  to  have  overrun  Thu- 
ringia,  Saxony,  and  Franconia.  They  were  all 
organists  or  church  singers.  When  they  had  be- 
come too  numerous  to  live  near  each  other,  and 
the  members  of  the  family  were  scattered  abroad, 
they  resolved  to  meet  once  a  year  on  a  stated  day, 


40 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


with  a  view  to  keeping  up  a  sort  of  patriarchal 
bond  of  union.  This  custom  was  continued  until 
nearly  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
very  often  there  gathered  together  more  than  one 
hundred  persons  bearing  the  name  of  Bach  — 
men,  women,  and  children.  In  this  family  are 
mentioned  twenty-nine  eminent  musicians.  Fetis, 
in  his  "  Dictionnaire  Biographique,"  mentions  fifty- 
seven  members  of  this  family. 

As  further  evidence  of  mental  heredity  note, 
among  scientists,  the  families  of  Aristotle,  Bacon, 
Bentham,  and  James  Watt;  and  among  men  of 
letters,  the  families  of  Addison,  Thomas  Arnold, 
Hallam,  Macaulay,  Seneca,  and  Madame  de  Stael. 
Dr.  Galton  attempted  to  prove  that  genius  is 
hereditary.  The  following  are  samples  of  his 
many  illustrations. 

The  Adams  Family.^ 
John  Adams,  second  President  of  the  United  States. 
John  Quincy  Adams,  sixth  President  of  the  United  States. 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  Minister  to  England,  etc. 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr.,  scholar  and  statesman. 
John  Quincy  Adams,  son  of  Charles  Francis,  student  of  social 

problems. 

The  Darwin  Family. ^ 

Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin,  physician,  physiologist,  and  poet ;    his 
father  a  man  of  letters,  eminent  in  his  time. 

'^Hereditary  Genius,  Galton,  p.  124.  "^  Ibid.  p.  209, 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY         ^j 

Charles  Darwin,  son  of  Erasmus,  died  young  after  having 
won  the  gold  medal  of  Edinburgh  University  for  a  medi- 
cal essay. 

Dr.  Robert  Darwin  of  Shrewsbury,  also  a  son  of  Erasmus, 
an  eminent  physician. 

Charles  Darwin,  the  illustrious  modern  naturalist,  grandson 
of  Erasmus :  one  of  his  sons  was  second  wrangler  at 
Cambridge  in  1868,  and  is  a  Professor  of  Mathematics 
there ;  another  was  second  in  the  Woolwich  examina- 
tion of  the  same  year,  while  a  third  is  a  distinguished 
teacher  of  botany  at  Cambridge. 

M.  E.  Caro,  of  the  Institute  of  France,  review- 
ing this  part  of  his  work,  argues  that  Galton  has 
not  proved  genius  to  be  hereditary,  but  simply 
that  special  faculties  are  transmitted.  He  says 
the  solitary  great  men,  like  Bossuet,  Pascal, 
Byron,  Goethe,  Dante,  Shakespeare,  cannot  be 
accounted  for  either  by  organic  evolution,  the  in- 
tellectual medium,  or  generation.  "  To  this  day 
the  great  gift  of  inspiration  in  science,  poetry, 
and  art  has  not  revealed  its  secret.  Those  sover- 
eign minds,  precisely  by  what  they  possess  that 
is  incommunicable,  rise  high  and  alone  above  the 
flood  of  generations  which  precede  and  follow 
them,  and,  by  reason  of  this  superior  side  of  their 
nature,  they  do  not  belong  to  nature.  Those 
exalted  originals  in  mind  who  tower  above  man- 
kind have  no  fathers  and  leave  no  sons  in  the 


42  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

blood.  Notwithstanding  Mr.  Galton,  the  least 
hereditary  thing  in  the  world  is  genius."  ^  But 
M.  Caro's  conclusions  do  not  affect  the  law  of 
heredity;  he  only  maintains  that  the  examples 
of  loftiest  genius  are  exceptions  to  the  law  and 
unaccounted  for  by  any  law.  Who  might  not  ask 
himself,  what  law  of  heredity  can  account  for 
Martin  Luther  and  John  Calvin,  for  Shakespeare 
and  Wordsworth,  for  Florence  Nightingale  and 
Abraham  Lincoln  ?  In  attempting  to  account 
for  these,  it  must  be  remembered  that  sons  are 
quite  as  likely  to  resemble  their  mothers  as  their 
fathers.  The  mothers  of  great  men  are  usually 
unknown;  and  what  genius  and  power  among 
women  have  been  shut  out  of  sight  of  the  world, 
or  perhaps,  alas,  suppressed,  history  does  not 
tell.  We  know  that  Commodus  resembled  Faus- 
tina and  not  Aurelius ;  that  Caligula  was  not 
like  his  father,  but  the  very  picture  of  his  detesta- 
ble mother,  Agrippina;  we  know  that  Napoleon 
IL  was  as  much  like  the  weak  Marie  Louise,  as 
Napoleon  L  was  like  the  magnificently  strong  and 
brave  Letizia  Ramolino ;  we  know  that  Goethe 
resembled  his  mother,  and  that  Lord  Byron  re- 
ceived, if  not  his  genius,  certainly  his  temper  and 
uncontrollable    passion,   from   the   maternal    side. 

^  Popular  Science  Monthly,  December,  1883. 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY  43 

Now,  great  men  are  more  apt  than  others  to 
marry  mediocre  or  inferior  wives.  They  are 
attracted  by  what  they  do  not  find  in  themselves. 
As  a  consequence,  their  children  are  not  their 
equals ;  their  greatness  has  been  diluted.  The 
children  are  not  like  themselves  alone  or  their  an- 
cestors, but  like  their  wives  and  the  families  from 
which  the  latter  sprang.  Still,  eliminating  that 
which  is  usually  ascribed  to  genius,  and  compar- 
ing characters,  habits,  and  ways  of  doing  things, 
children  invariably  resemble  their  parents  more 
than  they  differ  from  them. 

So  far  as  our  knowledge  goes  at  present, 
after  every  ancestral  allowance  has  been  made, 
certain  lonely  great  souls  still  rise  above  human- 
ity, as  the  Alps  and  Andes  above  the  earth. 
The  genesis  of  genius  is  as  mysterious  as  the 
genesis  of  life.  If  there  is  a  law  of  heredity, 
the  evidence  for  its  operation  in  the  sphere  of 
mind  is  as  clear,  as  positive,  and  as  complete 
as  the  evidence  of  its  operation  in  the  sphere 
of  matter. 

Physical  characteristics,  we  have  seen,  are  trans- 
mitted, and  education  and  accident  often  make 
their  impress  upon  children.  Thus  far  we  have 
been  only  advancing  toward  the  fact  that  the 
moral  nature  of  man  is  subject  to  hereditary  law. 


44  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

In  making  this  plain  we  shall  study  the  action  of 
heredity  in  pauperism,  vice,  and  crime. 

The  moral  nature  is  subject  to  hereditary  law. 
It  is  so  in  the  sense  that  a  disposition,  a  habib 
of  the  will,  a  condition  of  temperament,  may  be 
transmitted,  and  may  become  a  force  so  strong 
as  to  be  almost  irresistible.  Lecky  says  :  "  There 
are  men  whose  whole  lives  are  spent  in  willing 
one  thing  and  der>iring  the  opposite,"  which  is 
only  a  variation  of  the  apostle's  words,  "  But  I 
see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against 
the  law  in  my  mind."     (Romans  vii.  23.) 

James  I.  of  England  and  VI.  of  Scotland  is 
one  of  the  most  mournful  figures  in  English 
annals.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  with  the  son 
of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  her  first  cousin, 
Darnley,  whom  she  married  when  she  was  only 
nineteen  years  of  age .-' 

It  was  not  strange  that  Agrippina,  wife  of 
Germanicus,  should  have  been  the  mother  of 
Caligula,  and  of  that  still  more  detestable  Agrip- 
pina, the  mother  of  Nero.  Nor  was  it  strange 
that  Domitius,  who  married  the  second  Agrippina, 
should  have  said  that  from  himself  and  his  wife 
nothing  good  could  come.^ 

Lord  Byron's  mother  is  thus  described  :  "  Little 

1  Parejits"  Guide^  Mrs.  Hester  Pendleton,  p.  32. 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY 


45 


is  known  of  the  early  history  of  Mrs.  Byron,  but 
quite  enough  of  the  extraordinary  violence  of  her 
temper,  and  its  effects  upon  her  health  after  any 
sudden  explosion  of  choler,  to  warrant  the  belief 
that  some  cerebral  disease  occasioned  that  degree 
of  excitability  which  is  quite  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  any  lady  of  sane  mind."  ^  It  is  not 
strange  that  Macaulay  could  write  of  a  man  born 
of  such  a  mother  :  "  Never  had  any  writer  so  vast 
a  command  of  the  whole  eloquence  of  scorn,  mis- 
anthropy, and  despair.  That  Marah  was  never 
dry.  No  art  could  sweeten,  no  draughts  could 
exhaustj  its  perennial  waters  of  bitterness.  Never 
was  there  such  variety  in  monotony  as  that  of 
Byron.  From  maniac  laughter  to  piercing  lam- 
entation, there  was  not  a  single  note  of  human 
anguish  of  which  he  was  not  master."  ^ 

The  law  of  heredity  in  its  relation  to  pauperism 
and  crime  has  been  exhaustively  treated  by  R.  L. 
Dugdale,  in  his  little  monograph,  entitled  "  The 
Jukes^'  in  which  the  unhappy  descendants  of  one 
neglected  and  vicious  girl  are  traced  through 
many  generations.  It  is  a  book  to  be  carefully 
studied  by  all  interested  in  the  relation  of  sociol- 
ogy to  theology.  Its  facts  are  almost  too  terrible 
to  be  summarized.  It  shows  that  a  very  large  pro- 
1  Parents'  Guide,  Mrs.  Hester  Pendleton,  p.  21.  ^  /^/(/.  p_  22. 


46 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


portion  of  the  descendants  of  this  woman  became 
licentious,  in  the  course  of  six  generations  52.40 
per  cent,  of  the  females  being  harlots  and  23.50  per 
cent,  of  the  children  illegitimate ;  that  there  were 
7.50  times  more  paupers  among  the  women  than 
among  the  average  women  of  the  State,  and  nine 
times  more  paupers  among  the  male  descendants 
than  among  the  average  men  of  the  State,  while 
of  the  sick  among  them  56.47  were  paupers. 
Of  seven  hundred  cases  examined,  two  hundred 
and  eighty  became  pauperized  adults ;  and  this 
study  covered  but  about  one-third  of  the  family. 
Moreover,  of  these  seven  hundred  only  twenty- 
two  had  acquired  property,  and  eight  of  those 
had  lost  what  they  had  gained.  Seventy-six 
are  known  to  have  been  convicted  of  crimes 
and  punished,  while  it  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted 
that  more  than  double  that  number  were  really 
criminals.  The  diseases  from  which  they  suffered 
were  among  the  most  terrible  and  debasing  known 
to  the  medical  profession ;  in  other  words,  the 
unmistakable  wages  of  sin.^  It  is  possible  that 
this  is  an  exceptional  case,  but  it  is   more  than 

^  The  result  of  the  investigations  of  Mr.  Dugdale  have  been 
before  the  pubhc  for  several  years.  They  are  repeated  here  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  possibly  reach  some  readers  who  may  not  be 
acquainted  with  his  almost  startling  little  book. 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY 


47 


probable  that  the  records  of  crime  in  other  States 
would  show  cases  equally  striking. 

If  any  law  is  well  established  it  is  the  law  of 
heredity,  as  manifested  in  the  transmission  of  qual- 
ities and  tendencies  that  lead  to  vice,  pauperism, 
and  crime.  Indeed,  much  of  pauperism  is  only 
one  manifestation,  and  much  of  vice  is  largely  the 
outcome,  of  physical  disease,  the  hereditary  nature 
of  which  we  have  already  discovered.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  dangerous  classes  have  received 
from  a  vicious  ancestry  qualities  and  tendencies 
which,  with  their  environment,  they  are  almost 
powerless  to  resist.  That  which  is  the  heritage 
of  intemperate  and  licentious  parents,  —  a  weak- 
ened vital  state  which  almost  destroys  ambition 
and  makes  labour  seem  impossible,  —  society  de- 
nounces as  laziness.  But  we  are  always  at  first 
what  others  make  us.  Our  parents  determine  the 
time  and  place  of  our  birth,  and  the  surroundings 
into  which  we  shall  come,  and  from  them,  or 
through  them,  come  our  characteristics.  The  vir- 
tues and  vices  of  those  who  have  lived  in  other 
ages  reach  into  our  time  and  affect  us.  Disease, 
habit,  moral  and  intellectual  tendencies  and  qual- 
ities, vices  and  virtues,  all  are  in  the  stream  of 
heritage  which  comes  from  the  past.  There  are 
exceptions,  no    doubt,  to  this  law,  and  in   it    are 


48  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

many  "unexplored  remainders."  For  a  time,  and 
for  no  manifest  reason,  one  quality  will  neutralize 
another ;  but  the  great  fact  remains  beyond  chal- 
lenge that  the  past  is  at  work  in  the  present,  its 
power  reaching  down  through  the  ages,  to  all  the 
race,  modifying  every  human  life,  touching  and 
influencing  every  individual's  thought  and  will, 
and,  more  than  any  other  force,  colouring  history. 
A  question  of  tremendous  import  arises  at  this 
point.  Is  heredity  as  active  in  the  direction  of 
blessing  as  of  bane  .''  Is  a  tendency  toward  virtue 
as  surely  transmitted  as  a  tendency  toward  vice .-' 
We  should  expect  the  law  to  work  impartially 
whether  for  good  or  for  ill ;  yet,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  most  striking  examples  of  heredity  seem 
to  be  in  the  line  of  evil.  There  are  special  rea- 
sons for  this.  A  process  of  decay  is  always  more 
rapid  than  a  process  of  growth.  An  apple  rots 
more  quickly  than  it  ripens.  The  spread  of  poison 
in  the  blood  is  quicker  than  its  possible  eradication 
from  the  system.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  a  perfectly  pure  and  virtuous  man  would  not 
as  surely  and  readily  transmit  a  tendency  toward 
purity  and  virtue  as  some  men  do  toward  the 
opposites  of  these ;  but  no  man  is  perfectly  pure 
and  virtuous.  All  are  more  or  less  corrupted  and 
perverted.     A   transmitted   nature  carries  with  it 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY  40 

the  taints,  the  specks  of  decay,  which  have  existed 
in  the  parents  or  been  handed  down  from  ances- 
tors ;  and  those  degenerative  tendencies  will,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  work  faster  than  the  re- 
deeming, constructive  ones.  A  tainted  nature, 
such  as  science,  as  well  as  religion,  assures  us 
that  we  all  have,  will  reproduce  itself  and  its  seeds 
of  death  with  it.  That  which  is  born  of  the  spirit 
is  spirit ;  but  that  which  is  born  of  spirit  tainted 
by  the  corruptions  of  the  flesh  is  still  tainted. 
The  best  are  only  struggling  upward.  The  presi- 
dent of  a  great  university  said  he  would  give 
years  of  his  life  if  he  could  forget  the  scenes 
and  thoughts  which  came  to  him  from  his  youth. 
Forces  inside  tend  downward,  and  forces  outside 
co-operate.  Therefore  the  operation  of  this  law 
in  a  redemptive  process  must  be  slower  than  its 
operation  in  a  deteriorating  process,  and  spiritual 
heredity  will  assert  itself  less  quickly  than  sensual 
heredity.  Moreover,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that 
it  is  rarely  possible  for  virtuous  conduct  to  produce 
radical  organic  improvement  in  the  body,  while 
bodily  degeneration,  and  consequent  structural 
changes  in  the  reproductive  cells,  are  among  the 
most  common  effects  of  courses  of  vice.  Further- 
more, the  time  of  reproduction  in  the  human  spe- 
cies  is   largely  when   the   passions    are    hot,  and 


CO  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

before  the  influences  of  religion  have  had  time 
to  complete  their  work.  A  man  may  have  been 
a  drunkard  from  his  twentieth  to  his  twenty-fifth 
year.  Then,  reforming,  he  lives  an  exemplary 
life.     At  thirty  he  marries,  and  becomes  a  father 

—  a  father  with  a  pure  will,  but  with  a  physical 
nature  from  which  the  poison  of  alcohol  is  not  yet 
purged.  His  child  may  be  born  with  a  thirst  for 
stimulants.  Still  the  thirst  is  weaker  than  it 
would  have  been  had  he  been  born  five  years 
before.  The  tendency  downward  is  not  so  strong, 
and  the  tendency  upward  is  stronger.  The  child, 
however,  partakes  of  the  double  nature  of  the 
parent  —  a  struggling  moral  nature  and  a  tainted 
physical  nature.  It  may  be  that  new  circumstances 
have  given  an  opportunity  for  latent  germs  of  evil 
tendency,  which  started  first  in  his  grandfather,  to 
manifest  themselves  in  him.  Beyond  a  doubt  such 
experiences  are  common  in  the  physical  organism 

—  why  should  they  not  be  manifest  also  in  a 
tainted  moral  nature  pointing  toward  some  long- 
forgotten  vice .'' 

I  conclude,  then,  that  the  sweep  of  this  law 
is  the  same  in  the  spiritual  as  in  the  physical 
sphere.  None  the  less,  however,  must  the  re- 
demption of  the  world,  as  distinguished  from  that 
of   individuals,   be   sought   by   the   bringing    into 


INTELLECTUAL  AND   MORAL   HEREDITY 


51 


life,  in  Christian  homes,  of  a  higher  spiritual 
stock,  who,  in  turn,  shall  produce  their  own  kind, 
free  from  the  bondage  of  the  body. 

Over  against  the  advantage  that  evil  seems  to 
have  over  good,  however,  is  to  be  set  a  more 
hopeful  fact.  It  is,  that  evil  always  carries  within 
itself  the  seeds  of  decay,  but  that  virtue  and  truth 
have  in  themselves  seeds  of  endurance  and 
growth.  This  truth  never  had  more  forcible  ex- 
pression than  in  the  Ten  Commandments,  which 
distinctly  state  that  the  consequences  of  sin  run 
through  three  and  four  generations,  while  the 
results  of  righteousness  endure  to  a  thousand 
generations.  Wrong-doing  may  work  ruin  more 
swiftly  than  virtue  works  blessedness,  but  the 
result  of  the  latter  is  more  lasting.  A  father  may 
commit  a  crime  and  the  taint  of  the  evil  may  be 
in  his  blood,  but  it  will  be  purged  from  it  in  time, 
while  his  virtues  will  continue  their  blessed  influ- 
ence long  after  the  results  of  his  evil  have  disap- 
peared. This  is  one  of  the  facts  which  tend  to 
make  men  optimists.  It  shows  that  heredity  is 
a  potent  factor  in  the  regeneration,  as  it  is  also 
sometimes  in  the  degeneration,  of  the  world.  It 
works  for  good  under  difficulty  at  present,  owing 
to  the  deep-seated  taint  in  human  nature.  It 
will  achieve  redemption  far  more  speedily  as  that 


C2  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

taint  grows  less  and  less.  Nature  may  be  severe, 
but  she  is  neither  cruel  nor  malign.  In  the  long 
run  her  processes  always  work  blessing  for  the 
race.  No  child  is  condemned  because  of  the  sin 
of  his  parents,  and  though  many  suffer  because 
of  such  sins,  yet  the  successive  generations  are 
quickly  taken  in  hand  by  nature,  and  sooner  or 
later  purified  from  hereditary  taint  —  a  redemptive 
process  that  has  received  too  little  attention  from 
the  writers  of  our  theologies  and  theodicies. 


CHAPTER   V 


ENVIRONMENT 


Men  start  out,  then,  in  existence  with  a  vital 
capital  supplied  by  their  ancestry,  which  is  modi- 
fied more  or  less  by  the  law  of  diversity.  From 
the  moment  that  individual  life  begins,  however,  — 
not  merely  from  birth,  —  another  factor  becomes 
the  supremely  important  one ;  supremely  im- 
portant, not  because  it  is  necessarily  dominant, 
but  because  it  is  the  only  one  at  that  stage  under 
human  control.  This  factor,  therefore,  the  factor 
of  environment,  compels  the  attention  of  every 
student  of  sociology  and  religion.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  doubted  if  the  part  played  by  it  in  civilization 
is  not  even  greater  than  that  played  by  heredity. 
Side  by  side  with  the  latter  is  this  other  influence, 
at  once  modifying  it  and  being  modified  by  it,  — 
the  influence  of  the  environment  in  which  the 
human  being  is  placed.  The  tendencies  of  every 
man  are  fixed  before  he  sees  the  light ;  the  actu- 
ality of  every  man  —  his  very  character,  in  fact  — 
is  always  more  or  less  determined  by  the  condi- 
tions of  his  birth  and  life.     Environment,   then, 

53 


CA  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

is  "  the  sum  of  the  influences  and  agencies  which 
affect  an  organism  from  without."^  It  is  the  sum 
'  of  all  that  is  extrinsic  to  a  human  being,  and  which 
in  any  way  touches  or  influences  him  from  the 
beginning  of  his  career. 

Among  the  influences  which  have  most  to  do 
with  human  growth  are,  the  soil  and  climate,  the 
food  the  man  eats,  the  amount  of  work  he  is  com- 
pelled to  do,  the  degree  of  civilization  at  the  time, 
the  state  of  morals  in  society,  and  the  examples 
and  ideals  which  he  most  frequently  sees.  Other 
causes  —  some  good,  some  evil,  some  mixed  — 
also  play  their  part  in  deflecting  him  from  the 
course  on  which  he  originally  started.  Illustra- 
tions of  the  effects  of  environment  in  the  lower 
orders  of  life,  among  animals  and  plants,  are  most 
abundant  and  beautiful,  but  they  are  not  within 
the  scope  of  this  book ;  those  desiring  to  pursue 
this  line  of  investigation  are  referred  to  the  works 
of  the  great  modern  naturalists,  especially  the 
English  and  German.  We  have  to  do  with  en- 
vironment in  its  relation  to  the  life  of  man  as  a 
moral  being  and  a  member  of  society ;  and  con- 
cerning this  there  is  little  difference  of  opinion 
between  the  various  schools  of  scientific  thought. 
There  is  general  agreement  that,  mighty  as  is  the 

^  Century  Dictionary. 


ENVIRONMENT  55 

agency  of  heredity,  it  can  be,  and  usually  is,  modi- 
fied, for  good  or  for  evil,  by  environment.  The 
action  of  Jacob  in  putting  rods  before  the  eyes  of 
Laban's  cattle,  that  the  strong  ones  might  have 
offspring  "  ring-streaked,"  shows  that  the  crafty 
patriarch  understood  the  influence  of  surround- 
ings on  the  life  and  physical  appearance  of 
animals.^  And  the  care  with  which  the  laws  of 
Moses  dealt  with  the  sanitary  and  hygienic  con- 
dition of  the  people  in  the  Exodus  shows  that  the 
Hebrew  lawgiver  knew  that  there  was  a  vital  re- 
lation between  the  circumstances  in  which  human 
beings  live  and  their  moral  and  spiritual  character. 
Climate  is  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in 
•the  moulding  of  character.  Differences  in  the 
nature  of  men  are  largely  the  result  of  the  con- 
test between  the  individual  and  the  various  ele- 
mental forces  and  influences,  in  which  he  is  but 
partially  successful,  and  by  which  "  he  becomes 
unnaturally  or  morbidly  removed  from  the  primi- 
tive type."  All  a  man's  circumstances  help  to 
determine  his  life  and  the  character  of  his  diver- 
gence from  the  original  type.  The  effect  of  cli- 
mate is  evident  and  easy  of  observation.  Those 
that  live  in  malarial  regions  bear  the  marks  of 
their  residence  in  their  bodies  and  send  them 
1  Genesis  xxx.  25-41. 


56  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

down  the  generations.  There  are  amazing  differ- 
ences between  the  Esquimau,  gorging  himself  with 
whale-blubber,  and  the  refined  and  subtle  thinkers 
among  the  Brahmins  in  India.  Italians  and  Afri- 
cans carry  within  themselves  something  of  the 
heat  of  southern  and  tropical  suns.  Germans 
and  Swedes,  like  their  climate,  are  cooler.  There 
is  gradually  accomplished  a  physical  change  in 
those  who  live  in  the  tropics.  Heat  makes  exer- 
tion difficult;  hence  the  intense  and  continued 
activity  of  northern  people  is  seldom  known  in 
the  south.  If  a  dweller  among  the  tropics  re- 
moves to  a  northern  zone,  in  due  time  his  physi- 
cal constitution,  and  with  it  his  moral  also,  is 
modified.  In  other  words,  life  adjusts  itself  to 
environment. 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  the  illustrations  of 
the  effect  of  climate  upon  bodily  constitution  is 
that  of  the  Ouechua  Indians,  of  the  lofty  plains 
of  Peru.  From  the  constant  inhalation  of  the 
air  at  a  very  high  altitude  their  chests  and  lungs 
gradually  became  extraordinarily  developed,  the 
cells  being  larger  and  more  numerous  than 
among  Europeans.  "  Mr.  D.  Forbes,"  says  Dar- 
win, "  carefully  measured  many  Aymaras,  an 
allied  race  living  at  a  height  of  between  ten  and 
fifteen   thousand   feet,    and  he    informs    me   that 


ENVIRONMENT  cy 

they  differ  conspicuously  from  the  men  of  all 
other  races  seen  by  him  in  the  circumference  and 
length  of  their  bodies.  In  his  table  of  measure- 
ments, the  stature  of  each  man  is  taken  at  one 
thousand,  and  the  other  measurements  are  re- 
duced to  this  standard.  It  is  here  seen  that  the 
extended  arms  of  the  Aymaras  are  shorter  than 
those  of  Europeans,  and  much  shorter  than 
those  of  the  negroes.  The  legs  are  likewise 
shorter."  ^  Those  huge  lungs  developed  at  the 
expense  of  other  parts  led  Mr.  Darwin  to  con- 
clude that  there  can  be  "  no  doubt  but  that  resi- 
dence during  many  generations  at  a  great  elevation 
tends,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  to  induce  in- 
herited modifications  in  the  proportions  of  the 
body."  2  It  is  well  known  that  Europeans  and 
Americans  cannot  long  live  in  many  parts  of 
Africa  where  the  natives  thrive.  Among  all 
examples  of  climatic  influence  few  are  more  im- 
pressive than  the  following,  concerning  those 
whose  days  are  passed  among  salt  marshes : 
"Visiting  the  village  of  Hiers,"  says  M.  Melier, 
"we  saw  children  of  twelve  years  of  age  who 
appeared  but  six  or  eight,  so  puny  and  undevel- 
oped were  they.  Their  dirty  gray  colour  is  not 
only   pale,   but,    as   it   were,    tarnished.     Meagre 

1  Descent  of  Man,  Darwin,  p.  34.  2  /^^^  p_  ^^ 


c8  HEREDITY   AND    CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

in  limb  and  swelled  in  feature,  they  have  only 
the  abdomen  developed,  and  almost  all  have  in- 
curable congestions.  For  a  long  time  the  canton 
was  unable  to  furnish  the  military  contingent. 
The  greater  part  of  the  young  men  were  rejected 
either  for  defect  of  stature  or  on  account  of  gen- 
eral feebleness.  It  often  happened  that  amongst 
those  drawn  not  one  was  found  fit  for  service.  It 
has  occurred  also  that  in  certain  years  not  one  re- 
mained of  the  prescribed  class ;  none  had  arrived 
at  the  age  required ;  all  were  dead,  for  the  most 
part  in  their  infancy.  .  .  .  The  aspect  of  the 
country,  and  of  the  race  that  inhabits  it,  carries 
deep  sadness  to  the  mind  of  the  observer.  It  is 
a  tomb,  on  the  borders  of  which  the  inhabitants 
spend  a  weary  existence,  and  seem  daily  to  meas- 
ure its  depths.  They  are  aged  at  thirty ;  broken 
and  decrepit  at  fifty."  ^ 

Such  an  environment  must  leave  its  impress 
on  the  body,  and  its  effect  be  transmitted  to  off- 
spring. Those  living  amidst  it  will  find  not  only 
their  physical  constitution  affected,  but  their 
higher  nature  also.  They  will  necessarily  see 
everything  in  a  different  way  from  those  who  live 
in  the  midst  of  health  and  beauty.  God,  life,  duty, 
will   all  inevitably   be  coloured  a  dismal,  deadly 

^  Quoted  in  A  Physician's  Probleins,  Elam,  p.  lOO. 


ENVIRONMENT  59 

shade,  peculiar  to  their  conditions  of  life;  and 
to  expect  such  people  to  see  things  in  the  same 
light  as  we  see  them,  or  to  hold  them  to  the  same 
accountability,  is,  to  say  the  least,  unreasonable. 

Climate,  however,  is  but  one  of  many  elements 
of  environment.  Illustrations  of  the  influence  of 
trades  and  modes  of  life  on  human  development 
are  familiar  to  all  readers  of  Darwin's  "  Descent  of 
Man,"  Watchmakers  and  engravers  are  proverbi- 
ally near-sighted,  while  those  who  live  much  in  the 
open  air  are  long-sighted.  "  Short-sight  and  long- 
sight  certainly  tend  to  be  inherited."  ^  Europeans 
are  inferior  to  savages  in  the  strength  and  clear- 
ness of  their  sight,  and  this  is  probably  due  to  the 
indoor  life  of  the  people,  and  to  the  transmission 
from  generation  to  generation  of  the  effect  of  the 
less  frequent  use  of  the  eyes  for  observing  objects 
at  long  distances.  Blumenbach,  as  reported  by 
Darwin,  has  observed  that  the  nasal  cavities  in  the 
skull  of  American  Indians  are  unusually  large, 
and  connects  this  fact  with  their  wonderful  power 
of  detecting  objects  by  the  sense  of  smell.^  It  is 
said  that  the  Mongolians  of  Northern  Asia  have 
well-nigh  perfect  senses,  and  it  has  been  inferred 
that  "  the  great  breadth  of  their  skulls  across  the 

1  Descent  of  Man,  Darwin,  p.  1,^. 

2  Ibid.  p.  34. 


5o  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

zygomas  "  is  the  result  of  the  perfection  of  their 
organs  of  sense.^ 

Then  the  whole  life  of  man  is  influenced  by  the 
amount  and  quality  of  food  which  he  receives. 
Cooks  have  much  to  do  with  the  thinking  and  the 
morals  of  the  world.  The  state  of  society,  whether 
it  is  one  of  war  or  peace,  also  leaves  its  impress 
on  the  character.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
children  born  just  after  the  French  Revolution 
were  of  a  peculiarly  nervous  temperament ;  and 
the  number  of  insane  patients  in  France  for  some 
years  afterward  was  very  great. 

Environment  may  also  put  its  impress  on  the 
individual  before  his  birth.  It  may  either  modify 
or  intensify  heredity.  The  mother  of  Napoleon 
was  a  woman  well  prepared  by  nature  for  such  a 
son.  She  accompanied  her  husband  in  his  cam- 
paigns, riding  with  the  troops  on  horseback,  and 
encamping  in  a  tent  at  night.  Napoleon  was  born 
in  the  midst  of  war,  and  the  life  of  the  mother 
before  his  birth  was  passed  in  the  midst  of  the 
soldiery.  He  was  a  true  son  of  Mars.  On  the 
other  hand,  his  son,  whom  he  fondly  hoped  would 
perpetuate  his  name,  was  weak,  indolent,  and 
inefficient  like  his  mother,  Marie  Louise.  When 
some  one  said  to  the  Emperor,  "  Sire,  the  educa- 

1  Descent  of  Man,  Darwin,  p.  34. 


ENVIRONMENT  6j 

tion  of  your  son  should  be  watched  over  with 
great  attention ;  he  must  be  educated  so  that 
he  may  replace  you,"  he  replied,  "  Replace  mc ! 
I  could  not  replace  myself ;  I  am  the  child  of 
circumstances."  With  equal  truth  he  might  have 
said,  "  I  am  the  child  of  Letizia  Ramolino,  while 
my  boy  is  the  child  of  Marie  Louise."  The  differ- 
ence between  Napoleon  I.  and  Napoleon  II.  was 
the  difference  between  their  mothers,  multiplied 
by  the  difference  between  their  environments, 
both  before  and  after  birth. 

Let  us  now  apply  this  general  law  in  the  sphere 
of  morals.  We  have  seen  how  surroundings 
affect  the  physical  nature.  A  consumptive  in 
the  East  by  the  sea  may  become  strong  and  well 
in  Colorado ;  that  is,  a  favourable  environment 
may  counteract  heredity.  A  well  man  from  Colo- 
rado may  remove  to  the  seaboard,  and  consump- 
tion be  developed,  a  tendency  to  which  he  may 
transmit  to  his  offspring ;  that  is,  a  bad  environ- 
ment may  develop  a  pernicious  heredity.  So,  too, 
when  a  child  of  pure  and  noble  parents  is  placed 
in  the  midst  of  vice,  it  is  probable  that  he  will  be 
influenced  by  his  surroundings,  though  less  easily 
than  one  of  vicious  parentage.  So,  in  general, 
those  who  live  in  the  midst  of  virtue,  refinement, 
and  culture  are  themselves  refined,  loving  books, 


62  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

music,  art,  and  pure  companions ;  while  those  who 
grow  to  manhood  in  the  midst  of  ignorance  are 
usually  content  to  be  ignorant.  On  the  other 
hand,  remove  a  child  of  vice  and  illegitimacy  to 
pure  and  refining  influences ;  he  will  probably  be 
influenced  by  the  life  about  him,  although  the 
struggle  with  his  passions  will  be  severer  and 
longer,  and  without  the  constant  restraint  of  good 
environment  there  will  be  great  danger  of  a 
relapse. 

Some  time  ago  one  of  our  periodicals  published 
the  story  of  a  young  woman  who  had  been  attached 
to  a  missionary  house  in  the  tropics.  Although 
she  had  been  educated  in  the  habits  of  civilization, 
after  a  time  she  returned  to  her  own  people,  and 
was  soon  living  again  in  the  nudity  and  savagery 
that  characterized  her  race.  When  she  was  with 
Europeans,  she  adopted  civilized  customs ;  when 
she  returned  to  her  people,  she  reverted  to  theirs. 
Her  environment  determined  her  habits. 

The  influence  of  heredity,  however,  should  never 
be  forgotten.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  if  two 
children  were  exchanged  in  their  cradles,  a  child 
of  the  slums  being  put  in  the  place  of  a  child  of 
wealth  and  culture,  the  former  would  grow  up 
cultivated  and  refined  and  the  latter  coarse  and 
degraded.     It  is  quite  probable ;  yet,  the  conclu- 


ENVIRONMENT 


63 


sion  that  the  outcome  was  due  to  environment 
alone  would  not  be  inevitable  until  it  was  proved 
that  the  two  children  were  true  representatives  of 
their  respective  classes.  In  the  midst  of  the  slums 
are  not  a  few  persons  of  natural  refinement  who 
have  been  carried  down  by  sheer  misfortune  ;  and 
it  is  well  known  that  many  who  are  rich  and  intel- 
lectually cultivated  are  morally  weak  —  and  some 
of  them  vile.  The  child  of  the  coarse  rich  will 
gravitate  downward  as  naturally  as  a  child  born 
of  the  lower  classes ;  and  the  child  having  good 
blood  in  his  veins  will  naturally  rise,  even  though 
born  in  the  slums.  The  influence  of  environment 
is  strong  enough  without  having  ascribed  to  it  the 
effects  of  heredity  also. 

This  allowance  being  made,  one  broad  fact 
remains.  A  child  born  in  a  swarming  tenement 
where  pauperism  and  crime  abound ;  where  a 
dozen  people  sometimes  live  in  a  single  room ; 
where  both  parents  are  intemperate ;  where  words 
and  actions  are  alike  vile ;  where  gin  palaces  con- 
stantly invite ;  where  there  is  only  poor  food  to 
eat,  and  liquor  is  given  even  to  infants,  must  be  a 
totally  different  being  in  tendencies,  in  desires,  and 
in  ability,  from  a  child  of  pure  parents,  born  in  a 
Christian  home,  where  the  surroundings  make  for 
righteousness,  and  where  good  food,  pure  air,  and 


64 


HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 


abundance  of  sunlight  are  ministers  of  health.  To 
class  such  differently  nurtured  children  together, 
and  hold  them  to  the  same  standards  of  responsi- 
bility, is  in  accordance  neither  with  common  sense 
nor  common  morality. 

I  proceed  now  to  inquire  which  is  the  stronger 
force  in  determining  character,  heredity  or  environ- 
ment ?  If  I  understand  Ribot,  he  adopts  the  views 
of  Burdach,  which  he  quotes  as  follows :  "  Hered- 
ity has  actually  more  power  over  our  mental  con- 
stitution and  our  character  than  all  external 
influences,  physical  or  moral."  ^  Again  Ribot 
says  :  "  We  restrict  education,  as  we  think,  within 
its  just  limits  when  we  say  that  its  power  is  never 
absolute,  and  that  it  exerts  no  efficacious  action 
except  upon  mediocre  natures."  ^  Again:  "We 
must  ever  bear  in  mind  these  facts,  and  be  careful 
not  to  believe  that  education  explains  everything. 
We  would  not,  however,  in  the  least  detract  from 
its  importance.  Education,  after  centuries  of 
effort,  has  made  us  what  we  are.  Moreover,  to 
bear  sway  over  average  minds  is  in  itself  a  grand 
part  to  play ;  for  though  it  is  the  higher  minds 
that  act,  it  is  mediocre  minds  that  react,  and  his- 
tory teaches  that  the  progress  of  humanity  is  as 
much  the  result  of  the  reactions  which  communi- 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  346.  2  Jbid^  p.  ^^g. 


i 


'■A      I 


ENVIRONMENT  65 

cate  motion,  as  of  the  actions  which  first  determine 
it."  ^  The  idea  of  Ribot  is  that  the  thousands  of 
years  of  peculiar  environment  of  separate  races 
has  not  made  very  radical  changes  in  the  nature 
of  those  races.  It  would  appear  from  his  con- 
clusion that  Carlyle  was  right  when  he  said, 
"  Civilization  is  only  a  covering  underneath  which 
the  savage  nature  of  man  continually  burns  with 
an  infernal  fire." 

Be  the  case  with  men  of  genius  as  it  may,  my 
own  observations  —  and  this  is  a  phase  of  the 
subject  that  any  observing  person  can  study  — 
have  led  me  to  the  firm  conclusion  that,  with 
men  in  general,  where  there  is  no  organic  defect, 
as  in  insanity  or  idiocy,  environment  is  the  stronger 
force ;  but  that  where  there  is  such  defect,  hered- 
ity is  the  dominating  factor.  Indeed,  I  think  the 
testimony  of  all  workers  for  the  reform  of  the 
vicious  and  outcast  is  in  substantial  accord  on 
this  point.  The  moral  instructor  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Reformatory  told  me  that  more  than 
eighty  per  cent,  of  the  inmates  of  that  institution 
after  discharge  live  honourable  lives,  at  least  to  the 
extent  that  they  are  never  again  committed  for 
crime.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  well  known  that 
a  large  proportion  of  those  who  are  sent  to  the 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  351. 
F 


66  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

state  prisons  return.  The  difference  between  the 
two  classes  is  not  due,  probably,  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  differences  of  moral  heritage,  but  is  due 
entirely  to  the  difference  in  nature  between  the 
Reformatory,  which  seeks  by  good  surroundings, 
education,  and  moral  influences  to  develop  the 
latent  manhood  in  the  convict,  and  the  average 
prison,  which  is  merely  a  place  of  punishment. 
The  experience  of  such  organizations  as  the  Chil- 
dren's Aid  Society,  which  seeks  to  save  children 
by  placing  them  in  new  and  better  conditions, 
points  to  the  same  conclusion ;  it  all  is  favourable 
to  the  theory  that  environment  will  modify  hered- 
ity, and  when  given  a  fair  chance  has  power  to 
redeem  it.  It  has  been  proved,  for  example,  that 
the  evils  of  illegitimacy  may  be  largely  counter- 
acted by  education  and  healthful  association. 
Improvement  in  environment  means  the  purifi- 
cation of  heritage.  Bad  lineage  does  not  neces- 
sarily doom  a  child,  but  it  makes  the  chances 
almost  infinite  that  unless  the  conditions  of  his 
life  be  changed,  depravity  will  continue.  It  does 
not  determine  the  destiny  by  itself  alone,  but  it 
will  do  so  if  not  counteracted.  Usually  improved 
circumstances  result  in  a  corresponding  elevation 
of  character  and  life.  However  vile  a  child's 
ancestry  may  be,  if   he   is   placed  where   every- 


i 


ENVIRONMENT  6/ 

thing  that  he  sees  and  hears  becomes  a  motive  to 
purity  and  honour,  the  good  in  him  will  be  stim- 
ulated and  will  increase,  the  evil  will  be  repressed, 
and  habits  of  virtue  and  righteousness  will  be 
formed,  —  the  fair  promise  of  virtuous  maturity. 
If  this  were  not  true,  the  good  would  reproduce 
the  good,  the  tainted  the  tainted,  and  the  vile  the 
vile,  to  the  end  of  time,  and  redemption  there 
could  be  none,  except,  perchance,  by  the  direct 
intervention  of  the  Almighty.  In  my  opinion  all 
that  makes  life  worth  living  for  many,  and  all  that 
saves  from  pessimism  those  who  are  possessed 
with  enthusiasm  for  humanity,  is  the  fact  that 
heredity,  when  there  is  no  incurable  structural 
defect,  may  be  modified  by  environment;  that 
there  is  always  something  in  a  human  being  which 
can  respond  to  education  and  religion,  and  which 
may  be  expected  to  respond  to  them  when  circum- 
stances do  not  obstruct.  Even  Ribot,  who  seems 
not  to  appreciate  the  commanding  position  that, 
owing  to  the  conflicting  elements  in  heredity,  envi- 
ronment holds,  feels  obliged  to  confess  that  it  "  has 
made  us  what  we  are."  That  may  be  an  overstate- 
ment, for  the  last  word  on  evolution  and  the  prim- 
itive endowment  of  man  has  not  yet  been  spoken ; 
but  it  seems  indubitable  that  on  this  modifying 
and  elevating  power  of  environment  depends  very 


68  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

largely  the  possibility  of  reform,  of  civilization, 
and  of  religion.  If  heredity  cannot  be  overcome, 
philanthropic  work  is  a  futile  grappling  with  fate. 
That  it  can  be  modified,  and  the  evil  in  it  con- 
quered, is  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  With  even 
the  worst  ancestry  the  influence  of  good  surround- 
ings, the  presence  of  high  and  fine  ideals,  and 
sometimes  even  hatred  of  the  stream  of  tendency, 
may  make  what  wouid  otherwise  have  been  a  man- 
ifestation of  evil,  the  white  flower  of  beautiful  and 
beneficent  character.  No  one  should  despair  be- 
cause of  evil  in  his  blood.  Such  taints  should  be 
recognized,  and  their  development  guarded  against; 
but  no  stream  of  heredity  is  either  all  good  or  all 
bad.  If  circumstances  favour  the  evil,  the  evil 
will  probably  appear  in  character  and  conduct ;  if 
the  environment  favours  the  growth  of  the  tenden- 
cies toward  rectitude  and  purity,  the  evil  will  go 
out  of  sight  and  out  of  power  to  harm,  and  virtue 
will  prevail.  In  every  soul  there  are  two  foun- 
tains, one  of  sweet,  and  one  of  bitter  waters ; 
which  of  these  shall  prevail  and  flood  the  spirit 
depends  on  the  outlet  afforded  to  each,  and  if  the 
individual  develops  in  holiness,  it  depends  also 
more  and  more  on  his  own  sovereign  will. 

The  importance  of  reaching  the  forces  of   he- 
redity as  early  as  possible  with  right  training   is 


ENVIRONMENT. 


69 


evident.  Delay  means  opportunity  for  evil  envi- 
ronment to  appeal  to  evil  in  the  soul.  The  nearer 
to  the  moment  of  birth  the  influence  of  purity, 
healthfulness,  and  religion  can  be  brought,  the 
greater  the  probability  that  they  will  become  pre- 
dominant forces  in  determining  character  and  con- 
duct 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    THE    WILL 

The  question  which  underlies  all  morality  is  this 
—  Is  man  really  a  responsible  being,  or  is  he  the 
mere  product  of  his  ancestry  and  a  combination  of 
circumstances  ?  Does  he  act  automatically  accord- 
ing to  tendencies  inherited  or  impressed  upon  him, 
or  is  there  within  each  man  something  other  than 
the  ancestral  and  the  external  factors  ?  The  pre- 
sumption certainly  seems  to  be  against  the  latter 
alternative.  If  heredity  determines  the  physical 
features ;  if  it  shows  itself  in  the  temper,  the  tem- 
perament, and  the  intellectual  individuality,  what 
reason  is  there  to  suppose  that  the  will  maintains 
a  lonely  independence  ?  Indeed,  what  is  the  will  ? 
Is  it  a  faculty,  or  department,  of  the  personality  ? 
or  is  it  an  individual  possession  ?  If  it  is  the  man 
choosing,  then  all  that  influences  the  man  must 
influence  the  will.  If  he  is  born  with  a  love  of 
the  beautiful,  he  will  choose  to  be  surrounded  by 
things  which  will  satisfy  that  taste.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  his  parentage  is  vicious,  and  the  streams 
of  heredity  are  bad,  he  will  naturally,  unless  some 

70 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE  WILL 


n 


almost  miraculous  power  interferes,  choose  the 
coarse  and  the  evil.  If  the  will  is  the  man  willing, 
it  must  be  modified  by  all  that  modifies  the  person- 
ality. It  seems  at  first  as  if  we  must  grant  that 
the  will  of  each  human  being  is  determined  before 
his  birth,  and  that  its  choices  are  as  sure  as  the 
movements  of  the  stars.  If,  however,  we  say  that 
the  will  is  something  independent  of  the  other 
faculties,  something  outside  the  influence  of  phys- 
ical causation,  we  are  met  instantly  with  the 
demand  for  evidence.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that, 
approaching  this  subject  as  we  have  through  a 
study  of  the  lower  faculties,  the  presumption  is 
against  such  an  hypothesis.  There  are  facts,  how- 
ever, to  support  the  hypothesis,  and  to  overthrow 
the  presumption  against  it ;  for  not  infrequently 
men  break  from  the  lines  in  which  they  were  born, 
and  seem  to  be  almost  independent  of  their  ances- 
try. Though  they  are  the  offspring  of  vicious 
and  criminal  generations,  they  rise  to  pure  and 
even  lofty  character.  Doubtless  they  have  to  fight 
heredity,  but  they  have  a  power  which  enables 
them  to  fight  it  successfully.  John  Bunyan 
belonged  to  this  class ;  Jerry  McAuley,  the  thief 
who,  reversing  a  long  career  of  crime,  went  to 
his  grave  full  of  honour  and  usefulness,  and  most 
of   the   converts    made   by   the    missionaries,  all 


72  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

show  that,  whatever  the  power  of  vicious  heritage, 
there  was  in  these  men  a  force  sufficient  for  its 
resistance.  The  example  of  Marcus  AureHus  is  in 
point.  He  was  a  descendant  of  a  long  line  of 
vicious  ancestors,  and  yet  his  life  was  like  a  white 
flower  in  the  midst  of  a  world  of  pollution.  The 
principle  of  atavism  complicates  our  problem. 
Ribot  cites  an  instance  of  a  murderous  disposition 
reappearing  in  a  granddaughter  who  had  a  homi- 
cidal mania,  although  her  parents  were  apparently 
free  from  any  such  taint.^  If  a  man  born  of 
pure  and  honourable  parentage  is  likely  to  be  as- 
sailed with  evil  from  remote  generations  which  he 
cannot  resist,  what  place  is  left  for  free  will .-'  In 
considering  this  question  two  broad  facts  are  to  be 
kept  in  mind. 

(i)  The  relation  of  body  and  will  cannot  be 
determined  by  physiological  or  biological  science, 
so  far  as  can  now  be  seen.  I  make  this  state- 
ment in  the  full  recognition  of  the  claims  which 
have  recently  been  made  that  the  phenomena  of 
the  will  may  be  explained  by  physiological  exper- 
iments ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  in  the  midst 
of  the  most  morbid  physical  conditions  arise  often 
the  finest  specimens  of  manly  character. 

(2)   All  such  discussions   as  that  of  Edwards' 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  92. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  73 

"On  the  Will,"  and  the  essays  of  the  philosophers 
and  theologians  of  a  century  ago,  are  more  or 
less  to  one  side  of  the  question  of  to-day.  The 
probable  correctness  of  the  theory  of  evolution 
presents  problems  which  must  be  solved  before 
the  earlier  speculations  can  be  considered.  The 
will  must  now  be  viewed  in  connection  with  fac- 
tors introduced  by  physical  science.  Anything 
that  ignores  these  has  no  claim  on  the  thought 
of  a  nineteenth-century  student.  The  ability  to 
choose  is  a  fact  the  explanation  of  which  is  not 
yet  in  sight.  With  the  present  data  it  is  doubtful 
if  anything  more  can  be  done  than  to  collect  and 
collate  evidence  bearing  on  the  subject,  and  thus 
take  some  steps  toward  a  rational  explanation. 

I.  It  is  evident  that  choices,  whether  they  be 
the  whole  man  willing  or  the  action  of  a  separate 
faculty,  while  they  may  not  be  determined  by 
heredity,  nor  formed  by  environment,  must  be 
more  or  less  influenced  by  them.  Perhaps  there 
is  no  stronger  or  truer  illustration  of  this  state- 
ment than  is  found  in  "  Elsie  Venner,"  which  is 
probably  only  a  leaf  from  a  physician's  expe- 
rience. That  was  a  case  of  the  influence  of 
prenatal  environment.  The  beautiful,  untamable 
girl's  character  was  shaped,  and  her  career 
determined,    by   an    experience    of    her    mother's 


74 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 


—  the  bite  of  a  serpent  —  before  her  child's 
birth.  The  daughter  was,  of  course,  utterly- 
passive  and  irresponsible  at  the  time ;  how  far 
was  she  responsible  as  she  grew  up  ?  How  far 
was  her  conduct  under  her  control  ?  Was  there 
any  power  within  her  that  could  say  to  those 
tendencies  reaching  back  to  the  time  before  birth, 
"  Thus  far  shalt  thou  come,  and  no  farther "  ? 
As  developed  by  Dr.  Holmes,  no  room  is  left 
for  an  affirmative  reply.  Choices,  no  doubt,  are 
usually  according  to  the  motives  presented ;  but 
motives  have  power,  not  according  to  any  inher- 
ent force,  but  according  to  the  response  awak- 
ened in  the  one  upon  whom  they  act.  One  is 
born  of  sensual  parents,  with  a  strong  animal 
nature ;  another  is  almost  free  from  animal  ten- 
dencies. It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that 
while  one  will  respond  readily  and  naturally  to 
the  seductions  of  sensuality,  the  other  will  turn 
with  little  or  no  effort  to  the  contemplation  of 
intellectual  or  spiritual  beauty.  Each  naturally 
goes  to  his  own  place.  If  desire,  or  aptitude, 
has  anything  to  do  with  the  determination  of 
choices,  then  the  probability  is  that  men  will 
choose  according  to  their  desires.  We  may  go 
further,  and  say  that,  unless  the  prospect  of 
some  higher  good  is  introduced,  men  will  always 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  75 

choose  according  to  those  desires  that  are  deter- 
mined either  by  heredity  or  by  some  experience 
that  has  overcome  heredity. 

Let  us  now  consider  some  ilkistrations  which 
show  that  choices  are  modified  by  heredity.  The 
facts  would  probably  not  be  doubted  by  many  care- 
ful students  of  human  life.  The  question  whether 
acquired  characteristics  can  be  transmitted,  touches 
only  the  particular  kind  of  influence  that  may  be 
exerted  over  one  generation  by  its  predecessors. 
If  Dr.  Weismann  is  right,  and  acquired  traits  are 
never  transmitted,  it  is  still  true,  as  he  and  all  biol- 
ogists teach,  that  natural  traits  and  tendencies  are 
handed  down,  and  that  ancestral  environment  also 
reaches  a  controlling  hand  to  future  generations 
through  its  direct  influence  on  the  reproductive 
cells. 

Be  the  true  scientific  doctrine  in  the  abstract 
what  it  may,  there  is  great  unanimity  in  the  belief 
that  children  of  drunkards  inherit  a  taste  for  liquor. 
They  are  born  with  diseased  brain-cells.  As  a 
tendency  to  certain  forms  of  disease  runs  in  cer- 
tain families,  so  tendencies  toward  the  appetites 
and  passions  of  parents  appear  in  their  offspring. 
Those  tendencies  may  not  be  resistless,  but  they 
are  real.  When  a  child  of  drunken  parents  is 
tempted  to  take  liquor,  there  will  be  all  the  allure- 


76  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

ments  faced  by  the  child  of  temperate  parents, 
plus  a  natural  craving  of  which  the  latter  knows 
nothing,  and  the  choice  of  the  former  will  inevita- 
bly be  more  or  less  influenced  by  his  vital  inheri- 
tance. True,  he  may  have  been  so  shocked  and 
disgraced  by  what  he  has  seen  among  those  whom 
he  loves,  that  he  abhors  the  sight  of  that  which 
has  worked  ruin  for  them.  Even  then,  the  case  is 
not  changed.  The  grave  fact  is  that  the  will  is  so 
hedged  around  with  influences  and  tendencies  in 
such  cases,  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  call  it 
free.  He  who  feels  a  burning  thirst  for  liquor 
may  be  said  to  be  in  a  sense  free  to  choose  as  he 
thinks  best,  but  what  he  will  actually  think  best  at 
that  moment  will  be  determined  in  all  probability 
by  his  physical  condition.  Jonathan  Edwards  ar- 
gued that  the  will  is  as  the  greatest  apparent  good. 
That  contention,  though  it  antedated  by  a  long 
time  the  modern  discoveries  in  heredity,  is  quite  in 
harmony  with  them ;  for  his  famous  dictum  in  the 
/  last  analysis  means  that  men  always  choose  what 
seems  best,  which  depends  very  much  upon  their 
physical  state  at  the  moment  of  choice,  and  that  is 
very  largely  a  matter  of  heredity. 

The  peculiar  aptitudes  of  many  for  special  stud- 
ies are  too  well  known  to  require  more  than  men- 
tion.    A  young  man,  free  to  choose  his  profession 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE  WILL  77 

for  himself,  is  yet  born  with  a  passion  for  music. 
Wherever  he  goes  sweet  sounds  start  whole  sym- 
phonies in  his  soul,  and  discord  is  as  painful  as  a 
bodily  hurt.  That  youth  may  choose  to  be  a  law- 
yer or  a  merchant,  but  whatever  choice  he  makes, 
he  will  make  it  with  a  chorus  of  entreating  voices 
calling  him  toward  music.  In  all  likelihood  he 
will  become  a  musician,  even  though  the  advice 
of  friends  be  against  it,  and  all  prospects  of 
worldly  promotion  invite  him  elsewhere.  What 
has  decided  his  destiny  ?  His  own  choice.  Yes, 
—  but  what  determined  his  choice  .-*  The  fact, ) 
either  that  he  was  the  son  of  musicians,  or  that 
he  has  inherited  tastes  which,  by  the  principle  of 
atavism,  have  skipped  generations  and  reasserted 
themselves  in  him. 

The  tendency  towards  sensuality  is  perhaps  the 
strongest  of  the  innate  tendencies.  Sins  against 
purity  are  committed  usually  under  a  kind  of  spell. 
The  temptation  has  a  hypnotic  influence.  Pas- 
sion rises,  and  silently  but  swiftly  pervades  and 
benumbs  the  moral  faculties  ;  it  hides  the  faces 
of  beseeching  friends  ;  it  dulls  and  deadens  the 
conscience  ;  it  makes  evil  seem  good,  and,  for  the 
moment,  obliterates  the  memory  of  purity  and 
goodness.  No  power  is  so  strong.  Love  is  the 
greatest  blessing  in  the  world  when  it  is  pure,  but 


78  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

it  is  a  fury  when  it  is  inflamed  with  evil  desire. 
A  man  cherishes  wife  and  child,  church  and  home, 
with  real  affection,  and  yet  in  a  moment  his  star 
has  fallen,  and  he  has  committed  an  awful  sin. 
He  is  perfectly  sincere  in  saying  that  he  did  not 
mean  to  go  astray,  and  that  he  hates  his  evil 
ways.  What,  then,  is  the  explanation  .-*  It  is, 
that  in  him  were  two  men  :  one  visible,  frank, 
open,  manly,  desiring  good  things;  another  out  of 
sight,  and  perhaps  unknown,  who  is  ever  waiting 
for  an  opportunity  to  rush  into  the  field  of  con- 
sciousness and  manifest  his  vileness.  Where  did 
that  unknown  man  come  from  ?  From  where  the 
individual  originated ;  from  the  human  life  cur- 
rent. St.  Paul  knew  that  unseen  man  well ;  he 
knew  what  it  was  to  desire  one  thing  and  do 
another.  What  I  wish  to  make  plain  is,  that  this 
friend  of  ours  who  has  sinned  so  grievously  was 
not  altogether  a  free  man.  In  him  by  nature  was 
much  of  the  animal,  more,  perhaps,  than  in  the 
average  of  men  ;  or,  perhaps,  his  will  was  consti- 
tutionally weak,  and  consequently  less  able  to  con- 
trol the  animal  nature.  Therefore  his  choices  are, 
largely,  the  choices  of  the  still  more  animal  ances- 
tors whose  evil  influence  has  not  been  altogether 
eliminated  from  his  blood.  It  is  hardly  to  be 
doubted  that  a  large  proportion  of  those  who  fall 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE  WILL 


79 


into  unchastity  do  so  as  the  result  of  an  impulse 
which  is  inherited,  and  which  is  as  much  a  part 
of  their  being  as  the  power  of  thought  itself. 
Why  does  some  woman  you  know  outrage  de- 
cency ?  Let  me  answer  by  asking,  Do  you  know 
how  her  mother  lived  ?  When  you  know  that, 
whether  you  blame  her  less  or  more,  you  will  no 
longer  wonder.  A  few  boys  were  playing  in  a 
vacant  lot  in  an  eastern  town.  A  quarrel  arose, 
and  soon  they  were  throwing  stones.  One  was 
hit,  and  ran  home  for  his  older  brother.  That 
young  man,  a  manly.  Christian  fellow,  came  to 
where  the  little  boys  were,  and,  when  one  of  them 
made  what  seemed  to  him  an  insulting  remark, 
quick  as  thought  knocked  the  little  fellow  down, 
injuring  him  severely.  Afterward,  the  young 
man,  deeply  and  really  penitent,  said,  "  I  am  so 
quick  tempered."  He  was  indeed,  but  where  did 
he  get  his  temper  ?  Did  he  coolly  go  to  a  shop 
and  purchase  it  .-•  Such  commodities  are  not  on 
sale.  The  father  and  mother  of  the  youth  sup- 
ply the  explanation.  Two  hands  really  struck 
down  the  little  boy :  the  visible  hand  of  the 
■  youth,  and  the  unseen  hand  which  reached  out 
of  the  past.  The  blame  was  laid  on  the  former 
alone  ;  but  was  he  alone  blameworthy  }  A  slight 
study  of  human  life  tends  to  make  most  persons 


3o  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

charitable.     If  all  real  sin  is  in  the  will,  sinners 
are  less  guilty  than  many  imagine. 

Thus  far  we  have  been  dealing  with  the  plain 
and  simple  facts  of  life  concerning  which  there 
is  scarcely  a  possibility  of  disagreement;  with 
|i  a  class  of  facts  that  led  Professor  Huxley  to 
say  that  even  murderers  do  what  they  cannot 
avoid  doing,  and  are  no  more  worthy  of  punish- 
ment than  those  who  do  what,  in  accordance 
with  traditional  theories,  are  called  virtuous  acts. 
It  is  evident  that  our  thought  is  moving  steadily 
toward  a  problem  which  philosophers  hesitate  to 
approach,  and  which  theologians  often  gladly 
ignore,  nam.ely,  the  problem  of  the  origin  and 
the  contents  of  the  personality.  Is  each  soul 
an  emanation,  fresh  and  unpolluted,  from  a  divine 
fountain  of  being }  If  so,  the  grave  fact  confronts 
us  that  the  divine  in  humanity  is  limited  and 
easily  tainted ;  and  we  naturally  ask  how  environ- 
ment could  so  swiftly  and  surely  debase  that  which 
is  from  God  .-*  Or,  is  the  spiritual  nature  derived, 
like  the  body,  from  parents  and  ancestors .-'  What 
then  .-*  Why,  then,  the  laws  of  inheritance  hold 
sway  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit ;  men  are  what 
they  were  born.  They  are  bundles  of  tendencies 
handed  down  from  the  past,  and  all  by  nature 
love  what  they  were  born  to  love,  and  do  what 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  gi 

they  were  born  to  do.  This  is  precisely  the 
conclusion  of  materialism.  It  is  not  strange 
that  those  who  are  exclusive  students  of  physical 
science  are  usually  fatalists.  There  is  no  free- 
dom if  man  is  simply  a  product  of  his  ancestry 
and  his  environment.  Hence  we  find  Dr.  Mauds- 
ley  saying :  "  There  is  a  destiny  made  for  a  man 
by  his  ancestors,  and  no  one  can  elude,  were 
he  able  to  attempt  it,  the  tyranny  of  his  organi- 
zation." Again  he  says:  '"The  wicked  are  not 
wicked  by  deliberate  choice  of  the  advantages 
of  wickedness,  which  are  a  delusion,  or  of  the 
pleasures  of  wickedness,  which  are  a  snare,  but 
by  an  inclination  of  their  natures  which  makes 
the  evil  good  to  them,  and  the  good  evil ;  that 
they  choose  the  gratification  of  a  present  indul- 
gence in  spite  of  the  chance  or  certainty  of 
future  punishment  and  suffering,  is  often  a  proof, 
not  only  of  a  natural  affinity  for  evil,  but  of  a 
deficient  understanding  and  a  feeble  will."  It 
is  difficult  to  see  how  this  conclusion  can  be 
evaded.  It  is  not  a  question  of  what  should  be, 
but  of  what  is.  The  intellect  and  the  will  may 
be  crippled  as  easily  as  the  limbs.  Where  a 
man  is  born  with  a  weak  will  and  strong  animal 
nature,  his  tendency  will  be  toward  animalism  ; 
but  where,  on   the   other  hand,   he  is  born  with 


82  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

a  strong  will  and  noble  instincts,  each  choice 
will  place  him  higher  in  the  scale  of  manhood. 
This  statement  has  the  force  of  a  demonstration  : 
choices  are  always  more  or  less  influenced  by 
heredity.  Dr.  Maudsley  says  again :  "  Crime  is 
not  in  all  cases  a  simple  affair  of  yielding  to  an 
evil  impulse  or  a  vicious  passion  which  might 
be  checked  were  ordinary  control  exercised ;  it 
is  clearly  sometimes  the  result  of  an  actual 
neurosis  which  has  close  relations  of  nature 
and  descent  to  other  neuroses ;  and  this  neurosis 
is  the  physical  result  of  physiological  laws  of 
production  and  evolution.  Why  should  we  think 
of  man  as  possessed  of  a  fixed  moral  and  will 
power  any  more  than  of  a  fixed  intellectual 
power } "  The  force  of  this  reasoning  is  all  but 
irresistible. 

II.  It  is  only  when  we  turn  away  from  these 
facts  which,  when  the  approach  is  made  from 
the  side  of  physical  science,  seem  the  nearest 
and  most  imperative,  that  we  realize  that  there 
is  another  realm  whose  phenomena  are  some- 
what less  distinct,  perhaps,  but  no  less  certain 
and  commanding, —  phenomena  which  modify  con- 
clusions that  would  otherwise  be  inevitable. 

Some  choices  are  clearly  independent  of,  and 
even  in  opposition  to,  both  what  is  known  of  the 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  WILL 


83 


individual's  hereditary  bias  and  what  would  be 
expected  from  his  environment.  These  lead  us 
into  a  new  world,  and  to  the  study  of  a  new  set 
of  forces.  By  a  distinct  and  evident  act  of  choice, 
when  all  known  hereditary  influence  would  keep 
them  where  they  are,  men  frequently  repudiate 
their  old  associations,  and  without  the  slightest 
compulsion  choose  a  new  environment.  I  know 
a  coloured  woman  whose  heritage  is  vicious,  and 
even  criminal;  furthermore,  all  the  circumstances 
in  which  she  lived  in  childhood  were  such  as 
tended  to  the  development  of  passion ;  but  not- 
withstanding blood  and  environment,  she  has 
turned  from  her  old  surroundings  and  her  old 
friends,  and  has  made  a  new  life  for  herself. 
Almost  single-handed,  so  far  as  can  be  seen,  she 
has  created  for  herself  new  and  finer  conditions. 
Some  may  call  this  an  example  of  atavism.  Yes, 
perhaps,  to  some  degree ;  but  atavism  in  a  negress 
can  scarcely  be  very  potent  for  spiritual  develop- 
ment :  the  ancestry  carries  a  strong  animalism. 

Another  case,  in  many  respects  still  more  re- 
markable, is  that  of  a  woman  whose  home  was 
utterly  distasteful  to  her ;  there  was  not  the  least 
love  between  herself  and  her  husband.  For  years 
the  condition  seemed  to  be  growing  worse,  and 
the  disruption  of   the  home  seemed   not  improb- 


§4  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

able ;  at  least  she  had  no  encouragement  to  think 
that  there  would  be  any  improvement  in  it.  Sud- 
denly a  wonderful  change  came  over  that  house- 
hold. She  faced  the  fact  that  if  she  did  not 
overcome  the  pernicious  conditions,  no  one  would. 
So  far  as  could  be  seen,  jiot  one  human  influence 
touched  her  that  had  not  been  upon  her  for  many 
years.  By  a  simple  act  of  will  she  decided  that 
a  new  domestic  life  must  begin ;  and  it  did.  A 
more  superb  act  of  will  I  have  never  known.  This 
could  scarcely  have  been  atavism,  for  long  before 
that  time  her  physical  constitution  had  matured; 
and  it  was  not  environment,  for  that  was  strongly 
against  the  course  which  she  adopted.  Here  is 
a  signal  fact  well  worthy  of  scientific  study,  a  fact 
which  those  who  were  most  perfectly  acquainted 
with  it  saw  to  be  unrelated  to  any  physical  or 
social  cause.  Maudsley  insists  that  the  will  is 
determined  by  causes  rather  than  by  motives ;  in 
this  case  no  new  cause  for  the  new  action  is  dis- 
coverable. It  was  an  act  of  will,  due  to  motives, 
but  not  to  any  physical  or  social  cause. 

Whatever  unbelievers  in  Christianity  may  assert 
concerning  other  things,  they  would  not  deny  that 
great  changes  are  wrought  in  character  and  con- 
duct by  what  is  called  conversion.  The  super- 
natural cause  would  doubtless  be  denied,  but  the 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  85 

change  in  the  individual  would  not  be  disputed. 
I  am  not  attempting  to  account  for  these  changes, 
but  only  to  show  that  there  are  facts  outside  the 
physical  series  as  unquestionable,  and  probably 
as  numerous,  as  those  within  it,  which  have  a 
claim  on  the  attention  of  all  who  seek  a  scien- 
tific explanation  of  the  life  of  man.  Illustrations 
by  the  thousand  could  be  given  of  those  whose 
heredity  was  bad  enough  to  bind  them  to  evil  as 
with  chains  of  steel ;  whose  actual  indulgence  in 
vicious  courses  had  been  long  continued ;  and 
whose  environment  was  full  of  gross  and  selfish 
influences,  who  yet  without  cause  (using  cause  as 
a  force  in  the  physical  series)  were  truly  con- 
verted. If  it  be  thought  that  motives  more  or 
less  selfish,  such  as  desire  for  outward  prosperity, 
account  for  the  change  in  some,  this  explanation 
utterly  fails  in  the  case  of  those  who  surrender 
all  that  ministers  to  selfishness,  and  devote  them- 
selves to  undoing  the  mischief  of  their  previous 
lives.  When  the  phenomena  of  conversion  in  thou- 
sands of  instances  are  studied  scientifically,  what 
is  discovered  .-•  Events  without  a  physical  cause  ; 
an  absolute  revolution  in  character  and  life,  due 
neither  to  any  discoverable  element  of  heredity, 
nor  to  any  difference  in  environment.  Due  to 
what,  then .-'     Either   to  a  sovereign    act  of  will, 


86  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

or  to  a  change  of  spiritual  environment  which 
Christians  call  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  — 
probably  to  both.  I  once  read  a  paper  on  hered- 
ity to  one  who  is  now  in  the  front  rank  of  his 
profession  —  a  man  of  fine  and  noble  character. 
As  point  after  point  was  made,  an  aspect  of 
solemnity  crept  over  the  face  of  the  hearer.  Be- 
fore the  reading  had  ceased,  he  was  called  out 
of  the  room,  and  taking  the  chair  he  had  occupied 
I  saw  written  on  a  scrap  of  paper  on  the  table 
these  words,  "  That  is  true,  and  my  heredity  is 
all  pure  devil."  Afterward  I  found  that  what 
he  had  written  was  probably  true.  Yet  he  de- 
termined that  the  devil  should  be  chained,  and 
chained  he  has  been ;  with  full  many  a  tendency 
toward  base  living,  the  man  walks  the  earth  every- 
where useful  and  deservedly  honoured.  A  Chris- 
tian would  doubtless  call  this  an  example  of  the 
Spirit's  work  in  that  man,  and  quite  justly ;  but 
even  the  Spirit  of  God  does  little  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  individual.  Every  converted  man  is 
primarily  what  he  has  made  himself,  by  his  own 
choice,  as  a  pure  act  of  will.  If  the  Spirit  of 
God  compels  any  to  virtue,  then  freedom  in 
them  is  a  fiction  as  truly  as  if  their  character 
were  due  to  irresistible  heredity  or  to  any  other 
compulsion. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE  WILL 


87 


Another  illustration  is  that  of  a  person  whose 
life  has  been  spent  in  dissipation,  —  both  the  re- 
sult and  the  confirmation  of  an  inherited  tendency 
to  drunkenness.  His  life  for  fifty  years  is  that 
of  an  inebriate.  Now,  on  the  theory  that  the 
material  organization  is  absolute  master,  we  can 
expect  nothing  but  that  he  will  go  on  irretrievably 
to  a  drunkard's  death.  Suddenly,  however,  he 
alters  his  course.  He  does  it,  no  doubt,  in  re- 
sponse to  motives,  but  motives  which  are  not 
physical  and  cannot  be  stated  in  physical  terms. 
His  case,  moreover,  is  not  isolated ;  it  is  one  of  a 
large  number,  some  of  them  very  conspicuous ; 
cases  of  men  who  have  changed  the  course  of 
their  lives  in  the  face  of  the  furious  storms  of 
evil  tendency  that  come  sweeping  down  the  gen- 
erations and  gather  energy  with  every  added  year. 
Of  such  there  are  two  explanations,  and  two  only. 
One  is,  that  tke  power  of--G9d  has  manifested 
itself,  and  that  something  has  been  done  for  that 
man  by  a  power  outside  of  himself.  But  those 
who  believe  that,  would  never  doubt  that  the 
power  of  God  moved  along  the  lines  of  the  man's 
own  will.  And,  philosophically,  such  an  inter- 
vention is  a  matter  of  inference  entirely,  not  of 
observation.  The  other  explanation  is  that  the 
real  man  within   the   physical   organism   has   as- 


88  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

serted  himself  to  the  overthrow  of  the  dominion 
of  bodily  appetites.  Many  will  reject  the  first  ex- 
planation; they  will  refuse  to  acknowledge  divine 
intervention.  Such  are  driven  to  acknowledge 
the  existence  of  free  will,  —  a  power  within  and 
beneath  the  physical  nature,  which  is  able  to 
assert  itself,  and  take  the  seat  of  authority  and 
control ;  driven  to  it  under  pain  of  believing  that 
one  without  freedom,  whose  course  has  been  ab- 
solutely fixed  by  heredity  and  environment,  has 
changed  that  course  without  help ;  that  is,  that 
the  boulder  flying  down  the  Matterhorn  suddenly 
stops,  and  of  itself  begins  to  roll  upward.  The 
Christian  explanation  certainly  seems  the  rational 
one ;  namely,  that  the  choice  has  been  made  by 
the  will,  while  help  both  to  make  and  to  execute 
the  choice  has  come  from  above. 

Let  us  now  review  the  ground  already  traversed. 
A  study  of  physical  facts  alone  makes  it  appear 
that  no  act  of  choice  is  unrelated  to  physical 
conditions  inside  and  outside  the  man  willing. 
Logically,  therefore,  no  man  is  solely  blamable 
for  his  vicious  conduct,  or  alone  praiseworthy  for 
the  elevation  of  his  character.  A  thousand  hands, 
instead  of  one,  strike  the  blow  which  makes  a 
man  a  murderer.  He  is  not  the  only  crirninal. 
A  long   line  of  ancestors,  and   society  itself,  are 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  WILL 


89 


partners  in  the  crime.  In  a  certain  real  sense 
men  do  what  they  must  do,  for  they  have  abso- 
lutely no  option  as  to  what  forces  they  shall  in- 
herit ;  and  hardly  more  voice  in  determining  what 
influences  shall  mould  them  in  the  plastic  period 
of  life.  On  the  other  hand,  quite  opposite  facts 
are  equally  evident.  Men  actually  do  antagonize 
and  overcome  their  vital  inheritance,  defy  their 
environment,  and,  without  dependence  upon  either, 
choose  to  live  as  if  they  were  the  children  of  a 
virtuous  ancestry  and  subject  only  to  refined  con- 
ditions. These  truths  are  apparently  contradic- 
tory, and  yet  one  is  as  evident  as  the  other. 
Two  boys  are  the  children  of  drunken  parents ; 
their  home  is  one  room  of  a  tenement  in  which  a 
dozen  other  persons  eat  and  sleep ;  their  school  is 
the  street.  All  that  bad  blood  and  evil  conditions 
can  do  for  them  is  done.  Some  day  the  elder 
in  a  fit  of  drunken  fury  strikes  a  murderous  blow. 
He  is  arrested,  arraigned,  tried,  condemned,  ex- 
ecuted ;  he  alone,  though  at  the  bar  of  God  he 
has  many  accomplices.  Equally,  and  possibly 
still  more  culpable,  are  the  society  which  makes 
it  possible  for  such  degraded  creatures  to  be  born ; 
the  State,  which  allows  saloons  on  every  corner, 
and  permits  such  wretched  tenements  as  the  child- 
hood home  of  these  boys ;  and  the  men  who  own 


QO  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

those  buildings,  anxious  rather  for  rent  than  for 
the  welfare  of  human  beings.  The  other  boy, 
however,  son  of  the  same  drunken  parents  and 
brought  up  amidst  the  same  vileness,  is  no  longer 
there.  His  evil  heritage  has  been  overcome,  and 
his  circumstances  changed ;  he  is  a  gentleman 
of  wealth,  of  culture,  of  real  and  unaffected  good- 
ness. What  has  made  the  difference .-'  Not  so- 
ciety, for  the  surroundings  of  the  lads  were  alike 
bad.  The  younger  may  have  received  from  his 
ancestry  certain  good  tendencies  that  his  brother 
did  not ;  but  so  far  as  can  be  traced  the  legacy 
has  been  the  same.  What  shall  we  think  about 
this  remarkable  and  impressive  contrast .''  I  know 
no  answer  except  this :  in  every  man  there  is  an 
untainted  power,  something  which  passes  from 
generation  to  generation  untouched  by  change, 
and  that  in  this  ultimate  essence  of  personality 
rests  the  power  of  choice,  which  may  be  shut  in 
by  evil  conditions  and  tied  to  a  thousand  evil 
tendencies,  but  which  is  in  its  nature  free,  and 
is  rarely,  if  ever,  entirely  denied  expression. 
At  least  it  may  be  said  that  no  fact  in  the 
physical  series  militates  against  the  doctrine  of 
human  freedom  which  may  not  immediately  be 
met  and  fully  balanced  by  a  fact  in  the  spiritual 
series. 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  qj 

For  many  years  I  have  studied  this  problem  of 
freedom  in  its  relation  to  the  physical  organism. 
Abstract  speculations  concerning  it  are  of  little 
value.  The  question  is  one  of  science,  physical 
and  mental  science ;  and  that  leads  to  the  follow- 
ing conclusion :  a  study  of  physical  science  alone 
I  necessitates  the  belief  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
[as  freedom,  and  that  our  faith  in  its  reality  is,  as 
Herbert  Spencer  says,  "  an  inveterate  illusion ;  " 
that  man  is  no  more  free  than  a  leaf  in  a  tornado 
or  a  feather  in  Niagara.  But  it  is  unscientific  to 
stop  with  a  study  of  physical  facts.  The  spiritual 
realm  is  as  real  and  as  evident  as  the  physical, 
and  investigation  of  the  latter  results  in  the  con- 
viction that  in  a  certain  sense  man  is  free,  though 
not  so  free  as  to  be  unmodified  by  the  physical 
sphere  in  and  through  which  he  must  live. 

III.  We  have  now  reached  this  point:  the  evi- 
dence which  indicates  that  freedom  is  a  fiction  is 
balanced  by  facts  on  the  other  side  which  indicate 
that  it  is  a  reality.  Is  there  no  other  evidence 
that  can  be  brought  in  to  turn  the  scale  one  way 
or  the  other .''  There  remains  one  unequivocal 
witness  in  favour  of  freedom  whose  deliverance 
for  most  thinkers  will  ever  have  decisive  force, 
namely,  consciousness.  How  do  we  know  that 
we  are  free .''     Consciousness  bears  witness  to  free- 


Q2         HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

dom;  But  what  is  consciousness,  and  why  is  it  to 
be  trusted  ?  Consciousness  is  an  ultimate  fact. 
It  cannot  be  analyzed ;  its  contents  may  be  par- 
tially enumerated,  but  they  cannot  be  accounted 
for.  It  is  like  perception  through  the  senses,  or 
the  apprehension  of  distinctions  of  thought.  Who 
can  tell  why  certain  impressions  on  the  retina  of 
the  eye  give  him  sensations  of  colour  and  form .? 
Who  can  tell  why  he  thinks .?  Consciousness  is 
like  conscience.  Who  can  tell  why  he  feels  that 
he  ought  to  do  right  and  ought  not  to  do  wrong .? 
Now  the  soul's  sense  of  freedom  is  not  only  a 
direct  perception  of  fact;  it  is  something  more 
than  the  result  of  a  single  intuition;  it  is  rather 
the  connected  product  of  a  thousand  intuitions, 
and  so  is  woven  into  the  very  texture  of  conscious- 
ness and  from  it  cannot  be  separated.  All  men 
are  conscious  that  they  are  free ;  none  can  either 
vindicate  or  explain  that  consciousness.  In  my 
judgment  the  discussion  as  to  the  validity  of  the 
argument  from  consciousness  —  whether  its  testi- 
mony is  to  be  accepted  —  is  the  very  heart  of  the 
problem  of  freedom.  If  consciousness  is  a  reliable 
witness  the  case  is  proved,  even  if  the  problem  is 
not  fully  solved.  Against  this  citadel  therefore 
Dr.  Henry  Maudsley,  in  his  book  entitled  "  Body 
and   Will,"    directs    his    heaviest    ordnance.      He 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  ^3 

closes  Chapter  II.  as  follows  :  "  At  this  pomt,  then, 
I  hope  to  have  said  enough  to  establish  my  second 
proposition,  and  having  first  proved  to  the  meta- 
physician that  consciousness  does  not  tell  him 
that  he  has  such  a  will  as  he  imagines,  to  have 
now  proved  that  it  has  not  the  authority  to  tell 
him  that  his  will  is  undetermined.  He  has  based 
upon  its  declaration  a  superstructure  which  it  is 
unable  to  bear.  Be  the  doctrine  of  an  undeter- 
mined entity  true  or  not,  consciousness  is  not 
competent  to  decide  the  question  by  an  immediate 
intuition."  ^  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  Dr. 
Maudsley  proves  his  assertions.  At  first,  indeed, 
it  appears  as  if  even  consciousness  itself  must  be 
modified  by  the  physical  constitution ;  as  if  it  had 
various  degrees  of  intensity  and  validity ;  but,  on 
second  thought,  that  is  not  so  evident.  For 
instance,  a  man  knows  that  he  exists ;  conscious- 
ness tells  him  so ;  and  the  vividness  of  that 
knowledge  is  not  in  any  way  dependent  on  either 
heredity,  or  environment,  or  bodily  condition.  I 
think  —  consciousness  tells  me  that ;  I  will  — 
consciousness  tells  me  that ;  and  that  knowledge 
is  at  first  hand,  and  entirely  untouched  by  the  sub- 
sequent inquiry  as  to  whether  what  I  think  and 
what  I  will  are  determined  by  causes  having  exis- 

1  Body  and  Will.,  Maudsley,  p.  36. 


94 


HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


tence  outside  myself.  If,  now,  I  know  that  I  am, 
that  I  think,  that  I  will,  then  I  know  that  con- 
cerning the  fundamental  questions  consciousness 
is  a  reliable  witness.  But  if  consciousness  tells 
me  that  I  will,  it  at  the  same  instant  assures  me 
that  I  am  free ;  I  believe  in  my  freedom  on  the 
same  authority  that  I  believe  in  my  existence.  It 
may  seem  to  be  abandoning  the  field  of  science  to 
fall  back  in  this  discussion  on  the  testimony  of 
consciousness,  but,  however  much  we  may  try  to 
escape  from  it,  consciousness  always  asserts  itself, 
and  never  utters  one  uncertain  sound  concerning 
fundamental  questions.  I  recognize  the  force  of 
all  that  Dr.  Maudsley  says  :  "A  state  of  conscious- 
ness that  is  at  all  definite,  whether  of  internal  or 
external  origin,  cannot  certainly  be  either  the  sub- 
jective or  the  objective  thing  in  itself :  it  is  a  rela- 
tion of  self  and  not-self,  and  implicates  the  one  as 
necessarily  as  the  other  term.  Cogito,  ergo  s?im, 
'  1  think,  therefore  I  am,'  has  a  ring  of  transcen- 
dental authority,  until  we  interpolate  after  '  I '  the 
quietly  suppressed,  but  none  the  less  surreptitiously 
understood,  'who  am,'  and  let  it  read,  as  it  should 
read,  thus,  —  '  I  (who  am)  think,  therefore  I  am  ' ; 
after  which  it  does  not  appear  to  carry  us  beyond 
the  simple  and  subjectively  irreducible  fact  of 
consciousness,  beneath  which,  it  must  not  be  for- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  WILL 


95 


gotten,  there  is  in  all  cases  the  more  fundamental 
fact  of  an  organism  that  is  one."^  It  is  not  clear 
how  the  unity  of  the  organism  can  affect  the  fact 
of  consciousness.  A  man's  organism,  whatever  it 
may  be,  does  not  affect  the  fact  that  he  sees  out- 
ward objects ;  and  consciousness  is  the  eye  which 
sees  within.  It  does  bear  clear  and  positive  evi- 
dence to  freedom.  I  am  speaking  of  normal 
states.  There  are,  of  course,  diseases  of  the  mind, 
and  abnormal  states  which  are  hardly  as  yet  clearly 
developed  diseases.  Of  these  I  am  not  now  speak- 
ing. Consciousness  is  ultimate ;  to  challenge  its 
deliverances  when  they  are  uniform  in  all  climes 
and  all  ages  is  to  launch  out  on  the  shoreless,  har- 
bourless  ocean  of  utter  scepticism.  Now,  scarcely 
any  deliverance  of  consciousness  is  more  uniform 
and  universal  — semper,  iibiqiie,  ah  oiiinibiis —  than 
that  of  freedom.  We  —  and  all  men  —  choose 
spontaneously,  without  ever  asking  whether  we 
have  the  power  of  choice,  any  more  than  we  ask 
if  we  have  sight  when  attention  is  directed  toward 

...  iJ'^ 

a  specific  obiect.     The  value  of  this  testimony  is         .      ^  x^ 
recognized  in   all  human   mstitutions.     Society  .^^»*''°1-^>V'^ 
organized  on  the  presumption  of  freedom.     Every '" 
law  on  the  statute-books   of  the  world   presumes 
that   it   may  be   both    obeyed    and   violated,   and 

^  Body  and  Will,  Maudsley,  p.  37. 


g6  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

equally  that  each  individual  in  a  normal  condition 
may  choose  for  himself  either  to  obey  or  disobey. 
All  penal  institutions  presuppose  the  power  of 
choice  misused.  Every  invitation  of  religion  is  an 
indication  of  belief  that  men  are  able  to  rise  supe- 
rior to  their  innate  tendencies  and  their  circum- 
stances, and  choose  for  themselves  the  best  things. 
And  society  in  general  has  virtually  unquestioning 
faith  in  the  principle.  When  wrong  has  been 
done,  the  common  judgment  of  men,  after  all  due 
allowance  has  been  made  for  palliating  circum- 
stances, holds  transgressors  responsible  for  their 
choices.  Human  institutions  are  no  doubt  imper- 
fect, but  they  do  not  in  their  inmost  and  essential 
nature  bear  witness  to  falsehood.  Consciousness, 
in  spite  of  all  voices  that  attempt  to  smother  it, 
utters  its  unceasing  assertion  of  freedom. 

What,  now,  may  we  say  to  the  inevitable  inquiry 
concerning  the  nature  of  the  will  ?  I  reply  in  a 
passage  quoted  from  Ribot,  which  perhaps  comes 
as  near  as  we  shall  soon  get  to  an  answer.  It  is 
as  follows :  — 

"  Wundt,  in  a  very  remarkable  and  important 
work,  full  of  facts  and  ideas,  which  unites  to 
the  experimental  and  positive  method  of  English 
psychology  a  certain  German  boldness  without 
rashness,  puts   the  question  of  free  will  under  a 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL 


97 


different  form.  We  have  already  seen  that  he 
protests  against  conclusions  drawn  from  statistics, 
showing  that  in  human  acts  there  is  a  vari- 
able element  which  statistical  science  may  rightly 
enough  overlook,  but  which  the  psychologist  must 
endeavour  to  reassert ;  that,  moreover,  if  statistics 
disclose  to  us  the  external  causes  of  voluntary 
activity,  they  leave  us  in  absolute  ignorance  of 
its  internal  causes.  These  internal  causes  consti- 
tute what  Wundt  very  well  denominates  the  per- 
sonal factor  {der  personliche  Factor^ 

"  External  factors,  he  says,  we  denominate  mo- 
tives, but  not  causes  of  will.  '  Between  motive 
and  cause  there  exists  an  essential  difference.  A 
cause  necessarily  produces  its  effect ;  not  so  a 
motive.  It  is  true  that  a  cause  may  be  neutral- 
ized by  another  cause,  or  transformed  into  its 
effect,  but  in  this  transformation  we  can  always 
track  the  effect  of  the  prior  cause  and  even 
measure  it.  A  motive,  on  the  other  hand,  can 
only  either  determine  or  not  determine  the  will ; 
in  the  latter  case,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing 
its  effect.  The  uncertainty  of  this  connection 
between  the  motive  and  the  will  is  based  solely 
on  the  existence  of  the  personal  factor.' 

"  What,  then,  is  this  personal  factor  which  thus 
mysteriously  breaks  in  on  the  series  of  causes  and 

H 


98 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


effects  ?  It  is  '  the  internal  essence  of  the  per- 
sonality, the  character.'  There  we  must  look  for 
the  root  of  will.  '  Character  is  the  sole  immediate 
cause  of  voluntary  activity.  Motives  are  always 
only  indirect  causes.  Betwixt  motives  and  the 
causality  of  character  there  is  this  great  differ- 
ence, that  motives  either  are  or  may  readily 
become  conscious,  whereas  this  causality  is  ever 
absolutely  unconscious.'  Hence  character  —  per- 
sonality —  must  forever  remain  an  enigma,  so 
far  as  its  inmost  nature  is  concerned ;  it  is  the 
indeterminable  Ding  an  sick  of  Kant.  *  The  mo- 
tives which  determine  the  will  are  a  part  of  the 
universal  concatenation  of  causes ;  but  the  per- 
sonal factor,  wherewith  will  commences,  does  not 
enter  into  this  concatenation.  Whether  this  in- 
most essence  of  personality,  upon  which,  in  the 
last  resort,  rests  all  the  difference  between  indi- 
viduals, is  itself  subject  to  causality,  we  can  never 
decide  on  the  ground  of  direct  experience. 

" '  When  it  is  asserted  that  the  character  of 
man  is  a  product  of  air  and  light,  of  education 
and  of  destiny,  of  food  and  climate,  and  that  it 
is  necessarily  predetermined  by  these  influences, 
like  every  natural  phenomenon,  the  conclusion  is 
absolutely  undemonstrable.  Education  and  des- 
tiny  presuppose    a    character    which    determines 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   WILL  qq 

them  :  that  is  here  taken  to  be  an  effect  which 
is  partly  a  cause.  But  the  facts  of  psychical 
heredity  make  it  very  highly  probable  that,  could 
we  reach  the  initial  point  of  the  individual  life, 
we  should  there  find  an  independent  germ  of 
personality  {^Selbstdndiger)  which  cannot  be  de- 
termined from  without,  inasmuch  as  it  precedes 
all  external  determination.' 

"  We  readily  accept  this  doctrine  of  Wundt.  It 
possesses  the  advantage  of  showing,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  free  will,  considered  in  its  essence,  is  a 
noumenon ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  on  the 
ground  of  experience  the  fatalistic  and  the  ordi- 
nary view  are  not  irreconcilable ;  but,  inasmuch  as 
the  ultimate  roots  of  the  will  repose  in  the  uncon- 
scious, we  may  suspect  such  a  reconciliation,  but 
we  cannot  establish  it.  We  will  abide  by  this  con- 
clusion. We  have  elsewhere  endeavoured  to  show 
—  and  we  will  not  repeat  our  argument  —  that 
psychology,  even  experimental  psychology,  must 
admit  a  certain  element  which  comes  before  us  as 
a  fact ;  this  we  call  the  ego,  the  person,  the  charac- 
ter: no  other  word  will  designate  it  properly,  but 
of  it  we  can  only  say  that  it  is  that  which  in  us  is 
inmost,  and  which  distinguishes  and  differentiates 
us  from  what  is  not  ourselves ;  this  it  is  by  which 
our  ideas,  our  sentiments,  our  sensations,  our  voli- 


lOO  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

tions,  are  given  to  us  as  ours,  and  not  as  the  phe- 
nomena of  something  outside  ourselves.  And  we 
put  the  question,  whether  the  instinct  of  self-pres- 
ervation, which  is  so  strong  in  animals,  may  not  be 
this  individual  principle,  cleaving  stubbornly  to  ex- 
istence, and  struggling  to  maintain  its  hold  on  life  ? 
"  If  now  we  study  the  part  played  by  person- 
ality, not  now  in  psychology,  but  in  history,  the 
problem  occurs  in  the  same  terms,  and  seems 
resolvable  in  the  same  way.  The  individual  is 
subject  to  the  laws  of  nature,  both  physical  and 
moral,  and  is  governed  by  them.  But  beyond  the 
almost  boundless  field  of  determinism  we  have 
had  a  glimpse  of  the  possibility,  and  even  the 
necessity,  of  an  autonomy,  a  spontaneity.  So, 
too,  in  history,  where  the  action  of  natural  laws  is 
great,  where,  indeed,  it  is  nearly  everything,  we 
must  also  assign  its  due  part  to  personality,  as 
represented  especially  by  great  men.  '  The  expe- 
dition of  Alexander  and  the  poetry  of  Homer  are 
both  due  to  individuals.  But  had  Alexander  never 
lived  it  is  probable  that  the  course  of  history  would 
have  been  other  than  it  has  been  ;  and  if  Homer 
had  not  lived  perhaps  the  religion  and  the  manners 
of  the  Greeks  would  have  taken  another  form. 
.  .  .  Individual  will,  therefore,  exerts  a  great 
influence,  .  .  .  yet  this  influence  is  but  a  momen- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE  WILL  iqi 

tary  cause.  Homer  changed  the  manners  of  the 
Greeks  only  because  the  Greeks  made  his  poetic 
creations  their  own  ;  and  Alexander  could  never 
have  made  his  mark  so  deeply  in  history  were  it 
not  that  his  will  had  the  same  ground  as  the  gen- 
eral will.' 

"  Both  history  and  psychology,  then,  appear  to 
lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  determinism  does 
not  suffice  to  explain  everything.  But  if  we  push 
our  inquiries  still  further,  we  are  met  by  a  fresh 
difficulty.  With  regard  to  this  personality  — 
whose  true  nature  we  despair  of  knowing,  because 
it  rests  in  the  unfathomable  depths  of  the  uncon- 
scious —  do  we  at  least  know  whence  it  is,  what  is 
its  origin  ?  "  ^ 

This  question,  Ribot  declares,  leads  us  to  an 
enigma  which  he  will  not  attempt  to  solve.  The 
fact  of  freedom  leads  to  the  fact  of  personality, 
and  the  individual  personality  leads  at  last  to  the 
source  of  all  personality.  The  most  that  we  can 
say  is  that  we  know  that  we  are  free,  but  that  our 
freedom  is  modified  by  heredity  and  environment, 
and  by  the  fountain  of  personality  from  which 
we  have  sprung,  but  of  which  we  know  little. 

*  Heredity,  Ribot,  pp.  341, 344. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    THE    HOME 

The  fact  of  heredity  is  not  at  all  a  modern 
discovery.  It  has  been  recognized  by  laws  and 
customs  from  the  earliest  ages ;  and  in  most  times 
it  has  been  honoured  in  that  concrete  manifesta- 
tion of  it,  —  the  family.  Hereditary  rights,  of 
which  the  world  has  heard  so  much,  imply  in  a 
certain  sense  continuance  of  individual  existence. 
The  son  of  a  king  succeeds  to  the  throne  without 
regard  to  his  fitness,  but  solely  because  of  his 
relation  to  his  father.  In  the  son  the  family  is 
presumed  to  continue  its  reign. 

Hence  the  common  term, "  the  reigning  family." 
The  right  which  the  father  won  by  force  is  passed 
on  by  inheritance,  which  is  simply  the  parent  liv- 
ing again  in  his  child.  If  a  man  dies  without  a 
will,  the  State  passes  the  property  on  to  his  widow 
and  his  children,  the  latter  receiving  about  two- 
thirds  of  it.  The  laws  of  the  State  therefore  still 
favour  the  old  family  idea  of  society,  that  the  indi- 
vidual does  not  altogether  cease  to  exist  at  death. 

The  solidarity  of  the  race,  which  rests  on  the 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME 


103 


fact  that  men  compose  one  great  family  and  are 
sharers  in  a  common  vital  heritage,  is  a  doctrine 
that  few  deny.  Socialism  rests  on  it,  as  do  all  sys- 
tems of  government,  from  the  autocracy  of  Russia 
to  the  republic  of  America.  The  honour  shown 
to  the  family  in  the  past  is,  in  part  at  least,  justified 
by  the  influence  of  families  on  the  development 
of  events.  The  de'  Medicis,  Bourbons,  Hohenzol- 
lerns,  Stuarts,  Napoleons,  and  many  others  have 
from  generation  to  generation  not  only  exhibited 
the  same  traits,  but  acted  an  important  part  in 
the  world's  development.  Proverbs  seldom  lie. 
"  Blood  will  tell "  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
familiar  of  these  universal  witness-bearers. 

In  this  chapter  we  are  to  consider  the  relation 
of  Heredity  to  the  Home,  or  the  problems  of 
the  family,  —  problems  that  are  among  the  most 
pressing  and  practical  of  our  time.  Before  there 
can  be  a  home,  there  must  be  marriage.  Promis- 
cuous mingling  of  the  sexes  is  the  destruction  of  the 
family ;  and  yet  it  is  neither  the  only  nor  perhaps 
the  most  common  cause  of  domestic  demoraliza- 
tion. The  men  and  women  who,  in  one  direc- 
tion, have  performed  such  good  service  in  the 
cause  of  Divorce  Reform  often  approach  the  sub- 
ject on  the  side  of  a  priori  theory  rather  than  on 
the  side  of  actual  human  nature  and  the  causes 


I04 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


which  limit  it,  and  too  often  pervert  it.  Ap- 
parently their  idea  is  that  divorce  is  an  effect  of 
lax  laws  concerning  the  marriage  relation,  and 
that  men  and  women  can  be  made  faithful  by 
legislative  act.  A  more  careful  study  would  show 
that  divorces  are  many,  not  so  much  because  there 
is  an  open  door  of  escape  from  the  marriage  rela- 
tion, as  because  so  many  are  married  in  form  who 
are  never  joined  in  spirit. 

Thousands  whom  God  has  forever  separated 
are  joined  in  matrimony  by  human  ceremonies. 
The  bonds  of  genuine  love  are  very  rarely  broken ; 
bonds  of  passion,  bonds  of  convenience,  bonds  of 
caprice,  will  be  broken  in  thousands  of  cases,  what- 
ever be  the  sanctions  the  State  puts  upon  them. 
It  may  be  best  for  society  to  make  almost  indis- 
soluble the  bonds  of  those  who  are  formally  mar- 
ried, but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  by  so 
doing  illicit  relations  will  be  vastly  multiplied ; 
and  that  where  only  human  laws  stand  in  the  way, 
some  avenue  of  escape  from  unbearable  domestic 
relations  is  sure  to  be  found  and  justified.  The 
case  of  George  Eliot  is  an  illustration.  The  first 
wife  of  George  Henry  Lewes  had,  it  is  said,  been 
guilty  of  breach  of  her  vows  which  had  been 
condoned.  Consequently  Mr.  Lewes  had  no  case 
in  the  courts. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME 


105 


There  was  only  a  mere  formal  union  existing 
between  that  man  and  that  woman.  In  process 
of  time  Mrs.  Lewes  became  insane ;  but  still, 
by  human  law,  her  husband  was  prevented  from 
making  a  home  for  himself,  although  by  an  act 
of  her  own  his  wife  had  violated  the  law,  both 
human  and  divine.  At  last  she  became  incu- 
rably insane.  Then  Mr.  Lewes  and  Miss  Evans 
determined  to  defy  custom  and  public  opinion, 
and  be  man  and  wife.  They  were  strong  enough 
to  face  the  opposition.  What  they  did  openly, 
thousands  do  quietly  by  a  change  of  residence,  or 
by  living  the  double  life  which  is  easily  possible 
in  the  cities.  The  family  as  an  institution  rests 
on  marriage ;  and  real  marriage  —  that  which  is 
something  more  than  a  contrivance  for  the  per- 
petuation of  the  race  —  depends  on  the  union  of 
two  souls.  That  union  of  souls  is  as  essential  to 
marriage  as  a  physical  union  is  the  fact  that  is 
too  often  overlooked.  In  order  that  this  essential 
union  may  be  truly  consummated,  there  must  be 
between  a  man  and  a  woman  something  which 
baffles  analysis,  a  kind  of  mutual  attraction  which 
calls  for  companionship  and  makes  association  a 
delight.  This  something  can  be  defined  nega- 
tively better  than  positively.  All  of  us  know  per- 
sons whose  characters  are  beyond  criticism,   who 


I06  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

occupy  high  social  positions,  who  have  culture 
and  refinement,  and  yet  who  are  supremely  dis- 
tasteful to  us.  If  absent,  they  are  never  missed ; 
if  present,  they  are  an  annoyance.  All  that  can 
be  said  is  that  they  and  we  are  not  congenial. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  natural  repulsion,  which 
is  possibly  a  physical  quality.  There  is  absolutely 
no  explanation  of  this  phenomenon ;  but  it  exists. 
If  two  persons  with  such  antipathies  are  brought 
together,  and  tied  together  by  a  million  ceremo- 
nies, there  will  never  be  a  home.  It  cannot  be 
truly  said  that  God  hath  joined  them  together, 
even  though  Church  and  State  have  combined 
to  sanction  the  union.  A  sense  of  honour  or 
religious  principle  or  repugnance  to  evil  may 
restrain  the  parties  from  other  alliances ;  but 
there  will  never  be  anything  but  the  form,  the 
outer  shell  of  true  wedlock.  Hence  the  question, 
who  may  marry,  deserves  far  more  careful  treat- 
ment than  it  has  usually  received.  If  any  sub- 
ject has  claims  on  the  thought  of  the  ablest, 
most  scientific,  and  most  spiritual  intellects,  it 
is  this  subject  of  marriage,  and  who  should  be 
allowed  to  assume  its  solemn  obligations.  On 
this  point  I  have  a  few  suggestions  to  make. 
Those  who  are  not  in  the  truest  sense  compan- 
ionable,  and  who,   after   suitable   intercourse,    do 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME  jq? 

not  find  each  other's  presence  thoroughly  agree- 
able, should  not,  under  any  circumstances,  be 
joined  together  for  life.  The  example  of  the 
royal  families  of  Europe  is  responsible  for  many 
ill-assorted  unions.  Royalty  asks  about  social 
equality,  seldom  about  character  and  harmony 
of  spirit.  Two  conditions  must  be  met,  or  there 
will  be  no  security  for  enjoyable  or  helpful 
wedded  life.  There  should  be,  first  of  all,  this 
subtle,  personal  attraction  which  makes  each 
essential,  or  at  least  agreeable,  to  the  other ; 
and,  second,  such  an  identity  of  interests,  tastes, 
and  faculties  as  will  make  the  continuance  of 
the  companionship  possible.  The  more  difficult 
question  is,  of  course,  how  may  these  be  secured  ? 
As  a  slight  contribution  to  the  understanding  of 
this  subject  I  venture  to  offer  a  few  propositions, 
from  which  there  will  probably  be  little  dissent :  — 
(i)  Homes  are  designed  for  the  perpetuation 
and  improvement  of  the  race,  physically,  intellect- 
ually, and  mofally. 

(2)  Homes  should  be  for  health,  rather  than  for 
the  perpetuation  of  disease. 

(3)  Homes  should  be  for  moral  as  well  as  physi- 
cal health. 

(4)  Homes  should  conduce  to  the  growth  and 
happiness  of  both  parents  and  children. 


I08  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

If  these  propositions  are  true,  it  is  clear  that 
those  who  are  in  the  line  of  succession  to  ances- 
tral disease  should  think  twice,  nay,  many  times, 
before  marrying.  A  woman  who  is  inclined  to 
yield  her  hand  to  the  son  of  an  insane  or  a  con- 
sumptive parent,  must  face  the  fact  that  unless 
she  can  create  conditions  unfavourable  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  disease,  it  is  very  likely  to  mani- 
fest itself  in  one  or  more  of  her  own  children. 
Often  this  fact  will  start  questions  terribly  hard  to 
answer.  A  young  man  in  whose  family  insanity 
has  appeared  repeatedly,  must  decide  whether  he 
will  take  the  chance  of  handing  the  fearful  disease 
down  as  a  heritage  to  his  children.  It  may  be 
right  to  take  the  risk,  for  changed  circumstances 
often  reduce  it  greatly.  Moreover,  there  may  be 
reason  to  believe  that  the  disease  has  so  far  run 
its  course  as  no  longer  to  be  dangerous.  But  the 
question  is  one  to  be  met,  and  not  ignored ;  the 
question  whether,  under  the  circumstances,  it 
would  not  be  better  for  all  concerned  if  he  were 
to  say,  "  I  must  do  my  part  in  eliminating  this 
evil  from  humanity :  that  means  to  stifle  my  dear- 
est longings ;  but  in  so  doing  I  shall  only  be  fol- 
lowing in  the  steps  of  Him  who  pleased  not 
Himself,  but  bore  our  diseases."  This  is  a  cru- 
cial conclusion  to  come  to,  and  hard,  indeed,  are 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  HOME  joq 

the  circumstances  that  drive  one  to  it ;  but  should 
a.  man  or  a  woman  with  every  prospect  of  hand- 
ing down  a  deadly  disease,  and  perhaps  adding  to 
its  power,  simply  for  a  few  months  or  years  of 
personal  satisfaction,  open  the  door  for  that  dis- 
ease to  work  havoc  in  a  new  generation  ?  Our 
responsibility  for  those  who  are  to  come  after  us 
cannot  be  evaded.  This  principle  should  not, 
of  course,  be  carried  to  extremes,  for  disease  is 
a  part  of  the  common  human  heritage ;  but  those 
parents  who  are  wise  and  Christian  will  not  allow 
it  to  be  ignored  by  their  children. 

What  is  true  of  tendency  to  disease  is  true  also 
of  tendency  to  vice.  As  we  have  seen,  the  evil 
of  one  generation  is  almost  sure  to  reproduce 
itself  in  the  succeeding,  unless  in  some  way  the 
tendency  toward  it  is  checked  or  turned  aside,  as 
often  it  may  be,  if  not  in  the  first  generation,  then 
in  the  second.  Often  people  say,  "  I  do  not  see 
how  it  is  that  my  son  should  have  a  tendency  to 
vice.  I  do  all  I  can  for  him.  Neither  of  his 
parents  has  a  taste  for  liquor,  but  he  drinks  for 
the  love  of  it."  How  about  his  grandparents  ? 
The  principle  of  atavism  is  not  to  be  forgotten. 

The  tendencies  toward  intemperance  are  not 
resistless ;  they  may  be  kept  from  growth ;  but 
they  are  real,  and  must  not  be  ignored.     Hence 


no  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

parents  must  face  this  question,  Are  we  willing 
to  have  our  child  wed  one  of  intemperate  parent- 
age, however  acceptable  personally  ?  A  question 
of  grave  import ;  for  the  morbid  craving  may 
yet  be  excited  in  the  one  who  now  seems  to  be 
without  it,  and  may  reappear  in  full  power  in 
the  children.  If  this  seems  cruel  and  unjust, 
none  the  less  should  it  be  made  prominent,  and 
kept  prominent. 

All  suffer  more  or  less  for  the  wickedness  or 
weakness  of  others,  and  this  fact  is  perhaps  no 
more  cruel  than  many  that  seem  less  so,  but, 
whether  cruel  or  not,  it  should  be  faced.  It  is 
certainly  no  more  cruel  for  a  young  woman  to 
find  herself  compelled  by  conscience  to  deny  her- 
self a  home,  than  for  a  married  woman  to  be 
compelled  to  suffer  for  her  husband's  wickedness. 
Much  sorrow  in  this  world  would  be  saved  if  there 
were  less  unwillingness  to  see  things  as  they  are. 
One  of  the  things  needing  to  be  thus  seen  is  that 
some  persons  ought  never  to  become  parents. 
Years  ago  I  met  a  woman  who  was  unusually 
beautiful  and  accomplished.  Her  hand  was 
sought  again  and  again  by  those  who  admired 
her  exceptional  gifts  and  graces ;  yet  she  never 
married.  Her  reason,  given  to  a  friend  through 
whom  it  reached  me,  was  this  :    "  My  grandfather 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME  m 

was  intemperate ;  my  father  died  intemperate ;  I 
have  a  brother  who  is  a  drunkard ;  the  love  of 
Hquor  is  in  the  blood,  and  I  will  never  be  a  party  to 
perpetuating  this  terrible  tendency."  Not  all  who 
have  intemperate  relations  are  shut  up,  morally, 
to  this  Spartan  choice ;  but  she,  in  her  circum- 
stances, did  exactly  right,  and  this  world  would 
be  far  happier  if  women  and  men  in  general  did 
but  share  her  noble  spirit. 

From  the  propositions  already  laid  down  it 
follows  also,  and  quite  as  certainly,  that  careful 
attention  should  be  given  to  the  probabilities  of 
continued  mutual  congeniality  of  the  two  persons 
involved.  The  son  of  a  dear  friend  of  mine  is 
far  more  likely  to  be  permanently  congenial  to 
my  daughter,  than  the  son  of  one  who  is  distaste- 
ful to  me.  There  is  a  grave  risk  that  the  latter 
will  in  time  affect  her  with  a  sense  of  personal 
antagonism.  These  seem  trivial  things,  almost 
beneath  attention ;  but  the  Romeos  and  Juliets 
have  existence  chiefly  in  plays  and  novels,  while 
the  Montagues  and  Capulets  are  perpetuating 
strife  in  every  community.  Parents  are  under 
obligations,  far  too  frequently  neglected,  to  seek 
as  companions  for  their  children  those  whom  they 
have  reason  to  believe  will  be  companionable  and 
attractive  throughout  life.     With  the  greatest  care 


112         HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

there  may  indeed  still  be  failure,  but  it  will  not  be 
failure  due  to  neglect.  No  doubt,  in  matrimony, 
as  in  the  kitchen,  "  Too  many  cooks  spoil  the 
broth."  Children  often  really  know  more  than 
their  parents  in  matters  of  the  heart.  It  is  folly, 
of  course,  to  make  rigid  rules  concerning  what 
in  its  nature  is  not  amenable  to  rules ;  but  still 
these  principles  as  principles  are  of  fundamental 
importance,  much  more  important  than  legislation 
concerning  divorce.  The  real  problem  is  not, 
how  those  who  are  joined  in  name,  but  are  as 
separate  as  the  poles  in  heart,  can  be  compelled 
to  keep  up  the  mockery  of  a  union,  but,  how  the 
union  can  be  made  so  real  and  vital  that  the 
suggestion  of  a  divorce  would  be  regarded  as 
an  insult.  To  this  end  marriage  should  not  be 
left  as  a  theme  for  sensational  preachers  to  use 
as  a  means  for  filling  empty  churches.  Neither 
should  it  be  classed  with  the  insoluble  problems. 
We  should  not  be  content  to  do  nothing,  because 
love  will  brook  no  rules ;  but,  as  those  who  have 
to  deal  with  life  and  immortal  destinies,  we  should 
study  facts  in  the  light  of  the  latest  and  most 
thorough  science,  and  do  all  that  is  possible  to 
help  the  young  to  realize  that  marriage  is  for 
health,  for  morality,  and  for  ever-increasing  hap- 
piness in  the  most  beautiful  of  relationships.     If  it 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME  113 

is  not  possible  to  point  out  clearly  how  these  ends 
may  certainly  be  secured,  at  least  much  good  will 
be  done  in  showing  how  certain  courses  naturally 
tend  toward  physical  and  moral  death. 

There  is  another  side  to  this  subject  of  the 
home ;  it  is  that  of  the  training  of  children.  About 
that  are  to  be  said  many  things  which  will  come 
more  properly  in  the  next  chapter  on  The  Prob- 
lems of  Education.  Some  things,  however,  belong 
here,  as  they  relate  especially  to  children  in  the 
home. 

If  all  children  were  alike,  the  problem  of  train- 
ing a  family  would  be  comparatively  easy ;  the 
process  which  had  succeeded  with  one  could  be 
repeated  with  the  others.  But  no  two  children 
are  precisely  alike.  Each  is  an  individual,  and 
therefore  essentially  unique.  I  was  once  at  dinner 
with  a  friend,  whose  daughters  were  at  the  table. 
A  glance  showed  that  they  were  not  alike,  though 
they  were  twins.  One  was  blonde  ;  the  other  bru- 
nette. One  was  quick ;  the  other  slow  and  shrewd. 
It  was  very  evident  that,  should  their  parents  adopt 
exactly  the  same  methods  with  those  children,  one 
would  certainly  fail  to  receive  the  discipline  and 
culture  which  she  needed.  We  frequently  hear 
the  remark,  "  This  child  is  unlike  all  others  in  my 
family."     Wherever   that   is   true,  the   difference 


114 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


must  be  considered  in  the  training,  or  parental 
discipline  will  be  a  failure.  In  other  words,  par- 
ents cannot  do  their  duty  by  their  children  unless 
they  carefully  study  individual  peculiarities.  These 
peculiarities,  moreover,  should  be  traced  to  their 
source  in  parents  or  ancestry.  A  girl  is  morose 
and  given  to  melancholy.  Let  the  parents  ex- 
amine themselves,  and  see  if  they  have  not  be- 
queathed the  unhappy  disposition  to  her.  Probably 
if  free  from  it  now,  one  or  the  other  of  them  pos- 
sessed it  earlier  in  life.  Let  such  a  parent,  instead 
of  being  impatient  with  his  daughter,  go  back  to 
his  own  feelings  at  the  same  age,  and  ask  what, 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  experience,  would  have 
been  the  best  discipline  for  him  then  ?  One  boy 
has  a  temper  like  a  flame  of  fire ;  where  did  he 
get  it .''  It  is  rarely  hard  to  tell.  Another  has  a 
tendency  to  secret  vice  or  open  wickedness ;  did 
not  those  who  have  brought  him  into  the  world 
in  their  youth  pursue  courses  which  account  for 
his  tendencies  .-*  Such  inquiries  complicate  neces- 
sarily the  problem  of  responsibility.  Each  human 
being  is  free,  and  therefore  responsible,  in  a  meas- 
ure ;  and  yet  no  child  has  any  voice  in  saying 
where  he  shall  be  born,  what  blood  shall  course 
in  his  veins,  what  tendencies  shall  impel,  or  what 
aspirations  thrill  him.     These  two  facts  are,  there- 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME 


115 


fore,  to  be  kept  always  to  the  front.  The  respon- 
sibiHty  of  each  individual  should  be  emphasized 
when  the  child  is  dealt  with ;  and  yet,  when 
courses  of  training  are  being  decided  upon,  the 
child  should  be  regarded  not  simply  as  an  indi- 
vidual, but  as  an  offspring,  another  link  in  the 
age-long  chain  of  human  life.  The  more  the 
underlying  unity  of  parent  and  child  is  realized, 
the  better  it  will  be  for  both.  The  parent  should 
remember  that  the  vice  which  he  reproves  in  his 
child  is  in  a  sense  his  also ;  his  even  though  he 
turned  from  it  years  ago.  Dr.  Bushnell,  in  his 
"Christian  Nurture,"  has  wisely  said,  that  it  is 
better  to  confer  with  children  concerning  our 
weaknesses  and  wrong-doings,  than  to  condemn 
them  for  theirs ;  for,  in  condemning  them,  we 
condemn  ourselves  in  them.  For  example,  a  child 
is  sullen "  and  reserved ;  is  it  the  result  of  wilful- 
ness or  of  nature }  If  wilfulness,  it  should  be 
reproved ;  but  if  it  is  a  natural  defect,  inquire 
where  it  came  from.  It  will  probably  be  found 
to  have  come  through  the  parents.  In  that  case, 
instead  of  reproof,  let  there  be  conference  some- 
what as  follows :  "  My  child,  I  can  understand 
how  you  feel ;  I  used  to  feel  as  you  do,  and  I 
do  now  at  times ;  but  I  am  trying  very  hard  to 
put   away  these   evils,  and   you    must   try   to    do 


Il6  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

it  too.  Come,  let  us  work  together.  I  do  not 
blame  you  for  your  feelings,  for  I  know  you 
got  them  from  me,  as  I  got  them  from  my 
father.  And,  now,  let  us  see  if  we  can't  conquer 
our  infirmity." 

Such  a  conference  would  have  a  better  effect 
than  a  score  of  reproofs,  and,  moreover,  it  would 
be  but  simple  justice.  If  the  objectionable  trait 
comes  by  inheritance,  common  sense  must  deter- 
mine what  is  the  wisest  thing  to  say. 

Parents  should  always  be  just  to  their  children. 
The  latter  are  not  responsible  for  their  existence, 
nor  for  their  tendencies,  nor  for  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  live.  Perception  of  these  facts, 
recognition  of  the  law  of  heredity,  will  lead 
parents  to  be  patient,  and  save  them  from  much 
injustice ;  many  things  otherwise  hopelessly  ob- 
scure in  their  children's  characters  it  will  explain ; 
it  will  enable  them,  by  recalling  what  helped  and 
hindered  them  in  earlier  days,  to  decide  what 
will  be  most  helpful  to  their  children,  and  make 
possible  an  adjustment  of  treatment  to  nature, 
so  that  the  worst  elements  may  be  more  surely 
eliminated,  and  the  best  given  opportunity  and 
stimulus  for  growth ;  and  it  will  enable  parents 
more  wisely  to  advise   their   children  concerning 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME  117 

the  grave  matter  of  marriage,  and  the  beginning 
of  a  home. 

Study  of  the  law  of  heredity  will  by  no  means 
solve  all  social  problems ;  but  it  does  shed  light  on 
the  pathway  of  man,  and  make  more  distinct  the 
course  of  right  human  conduct  in  some  most  im- 
portant matters.  It  is  not  claimed,  however,  that 
because  the  law  itself  has  as  yet  been  studied  by 
parents  all  too  little,  that  therefore  the  facts  of 
heredity  have  been  altogether  ignored  by  them. 
Not  at  all.  "  The  love  of  God  is  broader  than  the 
measure  of  man's  mind,"  and  He  has  so  ordered 
things  that  parental  instinct  —  that  brooding,  con- 
stant affection  for  offspring  which  finds  its  culmi- 
nation in  humanity  —  often  blindly,  but  surely, 
chooses  the  best  methods  of  training,  and  by  its 
fervour  and  constancy  accomplishes  what  clearer 
sight,  and  even  perfect  science,  with  less  ardent 
affection  could  not  accomplish. 

The  home  has  many  enemies,  some  open,  more 
of  them  covert.  The  tendency  which  results  from 
the  possession  of  wealth  to  have  no  settled  place 
of  abode,  to  migrate  from  one  hotel  to  another, 
making  impossible  the  sweet  domesticity  of  sim- 
pler life ;  the  gregariousness  of  huge  apartment 
houses   instead   of   single  dwellings ;    the  factory 


II S  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

life  of  the  manufacturing  towns ;  and,  perhaps 
most  of  all,  the  influx  of  a  subtle  paganism  which 
quietly  ignores  and  shirks  responsibility,  —  all 
these  make  imperative  a  careful  study  of  facts 
relating  to  the  home,  which  is  the  foundation 
of  all  national  prosperity  and  of  pure  and  endur- 
ing civilization.  After  all  has  been  said,  the  best 
guarantee  of  the  perpetuity  of  pure  and  faithful 
home  life  is  found  in  mutual  love,  founded  on 
knowledge,  on  companionableness,  and  on  that 
perfect  adaptation  of  one  soul  to  another  which 
makes  life  in  common  a  beautiful  and  enduring 
harmony.  This  end  cannot  be  secured  by  arti- 
ficial means ;  but  it  may  be  promoted  by  leading 
parents  and  young  people  to  a  wise  and  thorough 
study  of  certain  great  truths  of  life,  truths  which 
it  has  been  the  object  of  this  chapter  to  bring 
before  the  reader. 

Love,  therefore,  is  the  word  of  power,  and  the 
final  word  regarding  the  home.  Indeed  love, 
human  and  divine,  is  the  foundation  and  central 
pillar  of  the  home.  However  much  help  we 
may  gain  from  the  study  of  heredity  and  envi- 
ronment, that  study  leaves  us  at  last  where  all 
inquiry  must  end  —  in  the  consciousness  that 
after  man  has  done  his  utmost,  if  his  ideals  are 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   HOME  ug 

ever  realized  and  he  and  his  children  become 
either  useful  or  happy,  they  all  must  be  taken 
in  hand  by  the  love  of  God,  and  made  subjects 
of  that  regenerating  grace  which  can  no  more 
be  explained  than  the  source  and  the  destination 
of  the  wind,  but  the  results  of  which  are  more 
sure  and  splendid  than  the  autumn  harvests. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    EDUCATION 

Nothing  in  modern  life  is  more  significant  and 
prophetic  than  the  widespread  and  constantly  in- 
creasing interest  in  education  which  is  seen  in  all 
the  civilized  countries  of  Europe  and  America, 
and  in  many  of  the  semi-civilized  nations  of  Asia. 
This  revival  of  interest  in  education  is  coincident 
with  the  now  general  acceptance  of  evolution  by 
scientific  thinkers.  Evolution  is  compelling  men 
to  rewrite  their  psychologies,  their  treatises  on 
ethics,  and  even  their  theological  creeds ;  and  it 
would  be  strange  indeed  if  it  did  not  assert  its 
authority  over  education.  To  some  extent  it  has 
probably  done  so ;  and  yet  its  executive  agents, 
heredity  and  environment,  are  still  given  scant 
honour  in  this  great  department  where  they  are 
nearly  omnipotent. 

We  have  seen  that  heredity  is  not  often  an 
absolutely  irresistible  force.  That  which  is  poten- 
tial does  not  inevitably  manifest  itself.  More- 
over, heredity  is  constantly  modified  by  environ- 
ment.    In    a   vacuum,    rock    would    remain    rock 

1 20 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  EDUCATION  121 

forever ;  but  heat,  moisture,  frost,  pelting  rain, 
and  driving  wind  gradually  destroy,  not  the  rock 
itself,  but  the  form  in.  which  it  existed.  Now, 
every  child  is  the  product  of  the  generations 
before  him.  He  is  not  himself  alone,  but  a 
being  packed  with  potencies  derived  from  no 
one  knows  how  many  or  what  personalities  that 
have  lived  before  him.  The  problem  of  educa- 
tion is,  by  means  of  environment,  to  modify,  and 
as  far  as  possible  destroy,  the  evil  and  bring  the 
good  into  expression  and  power.  Nor  is  this  all ; 
for  tendencies  to  good,  when  improperly  bal- 
anced, are  more  or  less  mischievous.  Education, 
therefore,  has  to  do  with  the  elimination  of  ten- 
dencies toward  deterioration  and  the  proper  de- 
velopment and  balancing  of  tendencies  toward 
good.  The  word  education  is  fossil  history.  It 
implies  heredity,  for  it  indicates  something  to  be 
drawn  out;  and  as  that  something  could  not 
originate  with  the  child,  it  must  have  been  trans- 
mitted. The  word  presupposes  powers  which 
have  come  from  others  and  which  are  to  be 
trained.  So  of  the  word  culture.  Where  does 
culture  begin }  It  should  begin  with  birth.  The 
age  of  impression  is  quite  as  important  as  the 
age  of  reason.  But  culture  implies  something  to 
cultivate.     That   something   is   not  implanted  by 


122  HEREDITY   AND  CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

teachers,  but  is  always  inborn.  This  is  clearly- 
recognized  by  the  three  authors  who  in  our  time 
have  written  most  helpfully  on  this  subject. 
Emerson  says  :  "  A  man  is  the  prisoner  of  his 
power."  Powers  of  individuals  are  poorly  bal- 
anced. "  A  topical  memory  makes  him  an  alma- 
nac ;  a  talent  for  debate,  a  disputant ;  skill  to 
get  money  makes  him  a  miser,  that  is,  a  beggar. 
Culture  reduces  these  inflammations  by  invoking 
the  aid  of  other  powers  against  the  dominant 
talent,  and  by  appealing  to  the  rank  of  powers." 
"  Culture,"  he  thinks,  "  cannot  begin  too  early. 
...  I  find,  too,  that  the  chance  for  apprecia- 
tion is  much  increased  by  being  the  son  of  an 
appreciator,  and  that  these  boys  who  now  grow 
up  are  caught  not  only  years  too  late,  but  two  or 
three  births  too  late,  to  make  the  best  scholars 
of."  He  says  also  that  the  end  of  culture  is  "to 
train  away  all  impediment  and  mixture  and  leave 
nothing  but  pure  power."  ^ 

On  the  same  subject  Matthew  Arnold  quotes 
Montesquieu  as  follows :  "  The  first  motive  which 
ought  to  impel  us  to  study  is  the  desire  to  aug- 
ment the  excellence  of  our  nature,  and  to  render 
an  intelligent  being  yet  more  intelligent.  "^    Princi- 

1  Essay  on  Culture^  Emerson. 

"^  Culture  and  Anarchy,  Arnold,  p.  6. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   EDUCATION  123 

pal  Shairp's  idea  of  the  end  to  be  reached  is  not 
different.  He  quotes  approvingly  the  words  of 
Leighton :  "  The  only  sufficient  object  for  a  man 
must  be  something  which  adds  to  and  perfects 
his  nature."  1  The  difference  between  Emerson 
and  Arnold  on  the  one  side,  and  Shairp  and  his 
school  on  the  other,  is  not  in  the  idea  of  what 
education  is  to  do,  but  in  the  means  to  be  used. 
They  all  agree  that  education  is  the  process  by 
which  inherent  powers  are  to  reach  their  highest 
and  finest  growths.  It  has  been  wisely  said  that 
"  to  develop  childhood  to  virtue,  power,  and  due 
freedom  is  the  supreme  end  of  education,  to  which 
everything  else  must  be  subordinated  as  means." 
A  secondary  object  is  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge, but  even  this  is  subsidiary.  Knowledge  is 
not  always  desirable  for  its  own  sake.  It  is  valu- 
able as  a  means.  Study  which  leaves  the  man- 
hood narrow  and  contracted,  and  fills  the  head 
only  as  gold  fills  a  miser's  purse,  is  not  worth  the 
effort  required  for  its  acquisition.  But  how  gen- 
erally the  practice  belies  the  theory.  In  most 
schools  there  is  almost  total  neglect  of  what 
ought  to  be  the  fundamental  principle  in  educa- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  instead  of  adapting 
the  training  to  the  actual  needs  of  the  child,  in- 

1  Culture  and  Religion,  Shairp,  p.  99. 


124  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

stead  of  seeking  to  eliminate  the  evil  and  pre- 
vent any  single  power  from  growing  abnormally 
at  the  expense  of  the  others,  our  systems  of  edu- 
cation commonly  ignore  the  constitutional  differ- 
ences in  children,  treating  them  all  alike,  as  if 
they  had  been  subject  to  the  same  hereditary  and 
environing  influences ;  instead  of  making  their 
business  the  bringing  out,  developing  to  the  full, 
and  making  harmonious  whatever  is  best,  these 
systems  make  it  exactly  the  reverse,  —  a  process 
of  implanting,  regardless,  too,  of  the  nature  of 
the  soil,  and  often  of  sheer  cramming. 

All  schemes  of  culture  should  begin  with  the 
recognition  that  each  child  is  different  from  every 
other ;  that  the  lines  of  difference  run  far  back, 
and  therefore  are  not  superficial,  and  that,  in 
order  to  secure  the  highest  efficiency,  systems  of 
education  should  be  adapted  to  the  individuals  to 
be  reached.  Every  child  possesses  characteristics 
which  are  the  results  of  forces  running  through 
generations,  for  which  it  is  not  responsible,  and 
which  can  be  changed  only  by  the  most  carefully 
planned  and  wisely  adjusted  discipline.  Then, 
there  are  in  most  children  special  modifications 
of  natural  traits  due  to  circumstances,  tendencies 
that  have  been  weakened  here,  and  given  new 
impulse  there,  which  are  sometimes   quickly  dis- 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  EDUCATION  125 

cerned,  and  sometimes  lie  deep.  Two  illustrations 
occur  to  me.  A  few  years  ago,  when  address- 
ing the  children  in  the  Newark  City  Home  at 
Verona,  N.  J.,  my  attention  was  attracted  to  two 
boys  occupying  a  seat  directly  in  front  of  me. 
One  was  thin  and  pale,  his  fingers  were  long 
and  slim,  his  eyes  blue,  his  hair  light,  his  cheeks 
sunken.  There  was  little  of  the  animal  in  him, 
little  of  anything,  apparently,  but  sensitiveness. 
His  seat-mate  was  his  opposite  in  every  respect. 
His  hair  was  black  and  stood  on  end  as  if  electric, 
his  eyes  burned  like  coals,  his  mouth  and  chin 
resembled  those  of  a  bull-dog,  his  face  was  florid ; 
he  was  evidently  full  of  animal  nature  and  pas- 
sion. Those  two  boys  were  what  they  were  by 
nature.  They  had  probably  come  from  the  same 
sphere  in  society.  They  were  products  of  dif- 
ferent lines  of  descent.  Could  the  best  results  in 
them  possibly  be  reached  by  identical  processes 
of  education  ?  Consider,  now,  a  case  in  a  very 
different  social  grade.  In  a  certain  school  was  a 
young  lady,  a  daughter  of  New  England  parents 
of  fine  culture,  and  well  qualified  to  direct  her 
study  and  stimulate  her  aspirations.  The  advan- 
tages of  sympathy,  congenial  taste,  and  oppor- 
tunity had  been  theirs,  and  they  in  turn  were 
handing  these  real  blessings  to  their  child.     In  the 


126  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

same  community  and  the  same  school  was  the 
daughter  of  a  labourer.  Her  home  gave  her  no 
help  whatever;  ignorance  and  wickedness  were 
her  environment ;  and  she  had  especially  strong 
tendencies  toward  degeneration.  But  in  the  com- 
munity were  better  influences  that  had  kindled 
within  her  ambitions  and  aspirations.  Here  are 
typical  cases :  one  girl  with  blood  and  home  in 
her  favour ;  the  other  with  neither,  but  still  with 
possibilities  which  may  be  developed.  The  two 
classes  come  to  our  public  and  private  schools, 
and  are  often  treated  precisely  alike.  They  are 
given  the  same  books ;  the  same  subjects  are 
presumed  to  interest ;  the  same  ability  is  pre- 
supposed ;  the  same  tasks  are  required ;  and  the 
same  standards  are  imposed.  If  there  is  any 
such  thing  as  a  science  of  education,  do  we  catch 
sight  of  it  in  this  system  ?  In  ten  years  those 
two  young  women  may  conceivably  occupy  the 
same  relative  positions ;  they  may  be  equally  cult- 
ured and  respectable ;  but  it  will  never  be  by  the 
use  of  the  same  methods. 

If,  now,  it  be  granted  that  heredity  and  environ- 
ment differentiate  the  pupils  in  our  schools  so  that 
no  two,  even  from  the  same  family,  are  exactly 
alike,  and  so  that  they  come  to  the  teacher's 
hands   each  with    his   own    peculiar   powers    and 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EDUCATION 


127 


faculties  to  be  developed,  the  problem  of  educa- 
tion becomes  complicated  and  difficult. 

By  the  study  of  what  men  are  we  learn  of  what 
they  are  capable,  and  it  is  only  by  study  of  the 
child  that  we  shall  solve  the  problem  of  his  proper 
education.  Says  Dr.  Stanley  Hall :  "  There  is 
one  thing  in  nature,  and  one  alone,  fit  to  inspire 
all  true  men  and  women  with  more  awe  and  rev- 
erence than  Kant's  starry  heavens,  and  that  is, 
the  soul  and  body  of  the  healthy  young  child. 
Heredity  has  freighted  it  with  all  the  results 
of  parental  well  and  ill  doing,  and  filled  it  with 
reverberations  from  the  past  more  vast  than 
science  can  explore ;  and  on  its  right  develop- 
ment depends  the  entire  future  of  civilization  two 
or  three  decades  hence.  Simple  as  childhood 
seems,  there  is  nothing  harder  to  know ;  and 
responsive  as  it  is  to  every  influence  about  it, 
nothing  is  harder  to  guide.  To  develop  childhood 
to  virtue,  power,  and  due  freedom  is  the  supreme 
end  of  education,  to  which  everything  else  must 
be  subordinated  as  means.  Just  as  to  command 
inanimate  nature  we  must  constantly  study,  love, 
and  obey  her,  so  to  control  child-nature  we  must 
first  and  perhaps  still  more  piously  study,  love, 
and  obey  it.  The  best  of  us  have  far  more  to 
learn   from  children  than   we   can   ever    hope   to 


128         HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

teach  them ;  and  what  we  succeed  in  teaching,  at 
least  beyond  the  merest  rudiments,  will  always  be 
proportionate  to  the  knowledge  we  have  the  wit 
to  get  from  and  about  them."  ^ 

So,  too,  a  child  who  has  never  had  home  disci- 
pline, or  anything  to  awaken  aspiration,  needs 
a  special  form  of  training ;  his  education  is  not 
complete  until  he  has  learned  obedience  and  his 
eyes  have  been  opened  to  higher  things.  The 
child  who  is  all  imagination  should,  by  proper 
methods,  be  brought  to  understand  that  he  is 
human ;  and  I  know  no  better  way  to  teach  a  boy 
that  he  is  not  to  live  by  imagination  alone  than  to 
set  him  to  the  study  of  mathematics.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  pupil  who  is  commonplace  and 
prosaic  should  have  his  life  illuminated  and  ex- 
panded by  familiarity  with  imaginative  literature, 
especially  poetry. 

Room  for  spontaneity  should  be  left  in  all  sys- 
tems of  education.  Genius  flowers  in  most  unex- 
pected places.  Not  always  do  children  of  fine 
and  quick  aptitudes  come  from  homes  of  culture. 
Log-cabins  produced  Lincoln  and  Garfield.  It  is 
the  teacher  with  his  eyes  on  the  child-life,  rather 
than  on  so  many  pages  of  arithmetic  or  geogra- 
phy, who  will  be  able  to  detect  the  unique  intellect 

1  North  American  Review,  February,  1885. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  EDUCATION       129 

as    soon    as    it   appears,    and    he   will   adapt   his 
methods  accordingly. 

When  this  ideal  is  contrasted  with  the  systems 
in  common,  if  not  universal  use,  what  do  we  find  ? 
I  hope  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood  as  blaming 
teachers  for  what  belongs  at  the  door  of  the 
system  in  which  they  are  compelled  to  work.  Is 
it  not  true  that  little  if  any  attention  is  given  to 
the  study  of  child-life  ?  In  most  of  our  schools 
is  not  the  supreme  duty  to  go  through  certain 
text-books  in  the  time  allotted  ?  So  much  Caesar 
must  be  read,  so  many  pages  of  history  and  of 
arithmetic  must  be  completed.  Why  ?  Is  the 
end  of  education  to  cram  a  child  with  Latin, 
history,  and  arithmetic .-'  Is  it  not  better  that 
one  example  should  be  thoroughly  and  completely 
understood  than  that  forty  should  be  worked 
mechanically,  and  perhaps  accidentally.?  What 
sense  is  there  in  a  rigid  requirement  that  a  certain 
number  of  pages  shall  be  traversed,  if  discipline 
and  the  balancing  of  faculties  is  the  end  of  educa- 
tion ?  What  knowledge  of  child-life,  what  adapta- 
tion to  peculiarities,  is  displayed  in  such  methods.!* 
A  well-known  writer  on  this  subject  once  said  in 
private  conversation  :  "  I  look  back  to  many  of 
the  schools  I  attended  in  my  own  childhood  with 
unlimited  disgust.     I  was  not  taught.     I  was  put 

K 


130  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

into  a  procession  and  marched  through  so  many 
years  of  school-life,  and  then  let  out.  I  never 
liked  mathematics,  but  to  this  day  I  believe  the 
aversion  could  have  been  overcome  by  a  few 
hours'  patient,  careful  training,  with  no  step  taken 
until  the  reason  for  it  was  understood.  Further- 
more, if  the  study  was  worthy  of  pursuit,  then, 
simply  because  of  my  natural  antipathy,  it  should 
have  been  taught  with  more  thoroughness  and 
patience  than  those  studies  in  which  I  rejoiced." 

But  let  us  put  the  blame  of  this  condition  of 
things  where  it  belongs.  These  views  were  once 
stated  to  a  distinguished  educator.  He  replied  : 
"  I  agree  with  you  perfectly,  but  what  can  I  do .-' 
It  is  my  duty  to  examine  teachers,  but  my  hands 
are  so  tied  that  I  can  do  nothing."  "  Is  it  not 
often  true  that  a  teacher  who  may  be  an  expert 
in  reading  children,  and  in  adapting  to  them  the 
instruction  they  most  need,  could  not  pass  your 
examinations  ?  "  He  replied  :  "  Undoubtedly,  and 
I  am  disgusted  with  the  whole  system."  I  once 
asked  a  company  of  several  teachers,  how  many 
had  ever  had  their  attention  called  to  the  duty  of 
discriminating  among  their  pupils  as  to  natural 
powers  and  faculties  ?  All  but  one  replied  that 
it  was  a  neglected  topic,  and  that  one  said  he 
had   heard   a   few   lectures    on   the   subject  in  a 


i 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   EDUCATION  j^j 

normal  school  in  Pennsylvania.  In  other  words, 
while  the  most  important  part  of  education  is  the 
development  and  balancing  of  what  is  within  the 
child,  until  recently  little  has  been  offered  to 
teachers  to  fit  them  for  this  part  of  the  work. 
What  would  be  thought  of  a  medical  college 
that  devoted  all  its  attention  to  materia  medica, 
and  taught  none  of  the  principles  of  diagnosis  ? 
True  education  studies  the  child  first  and  most ; 
it  regards  him  as  a  product  How  can  faculties 
and  tendencies  be  developed  and  balanced  when 
no  attention  is  given  to  what  they  are .''  And 
how,  furthermore,  can  they  be  studied  thoroughly 
so  long  as  the  fact  is  ignored  that  each  child  is 
little  more  than  a  stream  of  tendencies  from  the 
past  coming  into  manifestation  in  the  individual 
to  be  instructed .-' 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  we  have  no  teach- 
ers who  rise  to  their  high  privilege.  Probably 
there  are  in  most  of  the  larger  schools  some  who 
realize  this  ideal  of  the  teacher,  but  they  do  so  in 
general  rather  because  of  natural  gifts  than  be- 
cause of  the  system  under  which  they  have  been 
trained. 

"  One  of  the  most  hopeful  things  in  education 
is  the  dawn  of  better  and  more  objective  ways  of 
studying  the  mind  and  its  growth.     The  old-fash- 


132  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

ioned  philosophies,  on  which  so  many  present 
methods  of  teaching  are  based,  which  are  still 
well  intrenched  in  most  of  our  normal  schools, 
seem  imposing  with  their  vast  generalization,  but 
are  too  introspective  for  youth,  are  formal,  and, 
where  most  absolute,  least  harmonious  among 
themselves.  They  have  done  great  good,  and  it 
is  not  needful  here  to  point  out  their  grave  de- 
fects. But  better  and  more  modern  methods  of 
research  into  the  phenomena  and  laws  of  the  soul, 
more  consonant  with  the  demands  of  modern,  and 
especially  American  life  and  thought,  as  special- 
ized and  co-operative  as  science,  slowly  doing  over 
again  the  work  of  the  great  thinkers  of  the  past 
century,  and  without  losing  their  positive  result, 
removing  their  limitations,  enriching  and  apply- 
ing their  insights  —  these  are  now  slowly  but 
surely  working  out  a  true  natural  history  of 
man's  nascent  faculties.  Here  is  the  heart  of 
the  pedagogy  of  to-day  and  of  to-morrow,  where 
the  science  and  philosophy  of  education  join 
friendly  hands  with  the  practical  teacher,  and 
here  he  who  would  speak  with  authority,  and  be 
heard  in  the  new  departure  already  ripening,  must 
study  with  patience  and  love  the  psychology  of  the 
growing,  playing,  learning  child  and  youth.  Thus 
alone  we  can,  in  the  language  of   the  '  Laches,' 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   EDUCATION  133 

make    the    education   of    our    children    our   own 
education."^ 

The  serious  practical  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
such  teaching  cannot  be  disregarded.  Political 
managers  usually  care  nothing  for  methods  of 
education  which  put  no  money  into  their  pockets 
and  win  no  votes  for  their  party.  Penny-wise  and 
pound-foolish  taxpayers  refuse  the  appropriations 
which  are  necessary  to  make  possible  the  best 
methods  in  education.  '  But  no  reform  is  easy.  It 
is  misconstrued,  maligned,  opposed  with  all  arts, 
until  it  wins,  and  then  its  opposers  profess  always 
to  have  been  its  advocates.  Progress  will  halt  in 
every  direction  when  difficulty  is  sufficient  ground 
for  despair.  There  is  an  inherent  difficulty,  how- 
ever, as  well  as  a  political  one.  It  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  seems  scarcely  possible  in  the  public 
schools  to  recognize  the  individuality  of  the  pupils. 
It  will  be  said,  and  truly,  that  our  systems  of 
education  are  directed  not  toward  distinguishing 
but  toward  common  characteristics ;  and  properly 
so,  since  that  in  which  all  are  alike  is  more  and 
greater  than  that  in  which  they  differ.  There  is 
indeed  in  this  fact  a  difficulty  which  is  real,  and 
neither  fictitious  nor  trifling.  It  does  not  appear 
how  the  thronged  public  schools  could  be  so  con- 

^  Dr.  Stanley  Hall,  North  American  Review,  February,  1885. 


134 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


ducted  that  the  eccentricities  of  individuals  should 
be  met.  In  private  schools  the  difficulty  is  not 
so  great,  though  it  does  not  altogether  disappear. 
The  only  practical  scheme  which  suggests  itself 
is  the  proper  training  of  those  to  whom  are  com- 
mitted the  responsibilities  of  teaching.  In  order 
that  this  pedagogic  ideal  may  be  realized,  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature  must  always  be  placed 
above  acquaintance  with  books.  In  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  teacher,  and  in  the  examinations 
through  which  he  passes,  this  requirement  should 
be  always  given  the  first  place.  Since  what  con- 
cerns the  training  of  teachers  for  their  office  ap- 
plies largely  to  parents  also,  I  pass  to  that  part 
of  my  theme. 

Herbert  Spencer  has  written  wisely  on  this 
subject.  "  If  by  some  strange  chance  not  a  ves- 
tige of  us  descended  to  the  remote  future  save 
a  pile  of  our  school-books,  or  some  college  exam- 
ination papers,  we  may  imagine  how  puzzled  an 
antiquary  of  the  period  would  be  on  finding  in 
them  no  indication  that  the  learners  were  ever 
likely  to  be  parents  (or  teachers).  'This  must 
have  been  the  curriculum  for  their  celibates,'  we 
may  fancy  him  concluding.  '  I  perceive  here  an 
elaborate  preparation  for  many  things ;  especially 
for  reading:  the  books  of    extinct  nations  and  of 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   EDUCATION  j^- 

co-existing  nations  (from  which,  indeed,  it  seems 
clear  that  these  people  had  very  little  worth  read- 
ing in  their  own  tongue),  but  I  find  no  reference 
whatever  to  the  bringing  up  of  children.  They 
could  not  have  been  so  absurd  as  to  omit  all 
training  for  this  gravest  of  responsibilities.  Evi- 
dently, then,  this  was  the  school  course  for  one 
of  their  monastic  orders.'"^  The  irony  of  this 
passage  is  well  deserved.  No  system  of  educa- 
tion gives  the  slightest  attention  to  training  our 
youth  for  the  discharge  of  what  will  sometime 
be  their  most  important  and  sacred  obligation. 
If  the  training  of  parents  is  thus  neglected,  so 
that  it  is  common  for  them  to  have  little  idea  of 
what  is  in  their  own  children,  and  to  be  unable 
to  adapt  their  teaching  to  the  latter's  needs,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  teachers  are  not  better  pre- 
pared for  their  office.  Few  ever  attempt  what 
is  not  expected  of  them.  What  Mr.  Spencer  says 
about  the  young  mother  applies  equally  to  the 
teacher  of  young  children :  "  But  a  few  years 
ago  she  was  at  school,  where  her  memory  was 
crammed  with  words  and  names  and  dates,  and 
her  reflective  faculties  scarcely  in  the  slightest 
degree  exercised ;  where  not  one  idea  was  given 
her  respecting  the  methods  of    dealing  with  the 

1  Education,  Herbert  Spencer,  p.  55. 


136  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

opening  mind  of  childhood ;  and  where  her  dis- 
cipline did  not  in  the  least  fit  her  for  thinking 
out  methods  of  her  own.  .  .  .  And  now  see  her 
with  an  unfolding  human  character  committed  to 
her  charge ;  see  her  profoundly  ignorant  of  the 
phenomena  with  which  she  has  to  deal.  .  .  .  She 
knows  nothing  about  the  nature  of  the  emotions, 
their  order  of  evolution,  their  functions,  or  where 
use  ends  and  abuse  begins."  ^  One  sentence  more 
from  Mr.  Spencer :  "  Some  acquaintance  with  the 
first  principles  of  physiology  and  the  elementary 
truths  of  psychology  is  indispensable  for  the  right 
bringing  up  of  children."  ^ 

Before  education  can  be  what  it  should  and 
may  be,  there  must  be  introduced  into  the  cur- 
riculum that  which  may  perhaps  be  called  the 
study  of  human  nature ;  children  and  young 
people  should  be  trained  to  see  what  is  in  man, 
just  as  they  are  trained  to  find  rare  plants  in  the 
field  and  moss  agates  in  the  mountains.  More 
careful  nurture  in  the  home  will  swiftly  follow, 
and  that  in  turn  will  not  tolerate  systems  of 
culture  in  which  all  pupils  are  treated  as  if  they 
were  manufactured  products  cast  in  a  single 
mould.  In  the  building  of  a  palace  granite  is 
used  for  foundation,  marble  for  walls  and  statues, 

^  Education,  Herbert  Spencer,  p.  58.  ^  Ibid.  pp.  63,  64. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   EDUCATION  j^y 

precious  stones  and  fair  colours  for  ornamen- 
tation and  decoration.  All  inorganic  things  are 
not  presumed  to  be  exactly  alike.  Much  less 
is  there  monotony  among  human  souls.  Shelley 
and  Kant  were  no  more  alike  than  a  lark  and 
a  dray-horse,  yet  in  England  they  would  have 
been  put  into  the  same  educational  hopper. 
Mrs.  Browning  and  Adam  Smith  were  at  oppo- 
site intellectual  poles,  yet  in  our  public  schools 
they  would  be  compelled  to  submit  to  the  same 
discipline.  Better  no  training  than  that  which 
effaces  individuality. 

I  emphasize,  then,  the  fact  that  each  child  is 
at  first  a  combination  of  streams  of  tendency 
from  past  generations,  with  a  mysterious  element 
of  personality  developing  in  course  of  time,  to 
which  appeal  can  be  made.  If  left  to  himself, 
he  is  likely  to  go  whithersoever  those  streams 
from  the  past  may  tend.  But  the  tendencies 
may  be  modified  by  training ;  the  evil  may  be 
allowed  no  congenial  air  in  which  to  grow,  and 
be  at  length  practically  eliminated,  while  the  good 
may  be  immeasurably  strengthened  by  a  new 
and  better  environment.  Precisely  this  is  the 
function  of  education.  It  should  bring  to  bear 
on  child-life  such  influences  as  will  cause  imper- 
fection and   bias   to   disappear,  and   lead   to   the 


138 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


fullest  possible  development  tendencies  to  the 
true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good.  To  reach  this 
high  ideal  it  must  be  intelligent ;  it  must  work 
according  to  a  plan  ;  its  instruments  must  know 
pupils  better  even  than  books ;  must  always 
adapt  methods  to  personalities ;  and  must  be 
fully  persuaded  that  the  culture  of  an  immortal 
spirit  is  as  great  a  mission  as  the  exploration  of 
the  stellar  universe.  The  practical  difficulty  in 
this  adaptation  of  training  can  be  largely  over- 
come by  making  parents  and  teachers  acquainted 
with  child-life.  This  involves  a  knowledge,  not 
only  of  the  pupils,  but  of  their  ancestry.  A 
teacher  will  be  able  to  do  better  work  for  his 
scholars  if  he  knows  something  of  their  fathers 
and  grandfathers.  Blood  always  tells.  Properly 
understood,  pedigree  of  human  beings  is  a  more 
worthy  study  than  chemistry  or  astronomy.  Edu- 
cation should  evolve  that  which  is  best  in  its 
object.  Jean  Paul  says :  "  It  is  only  mediocrity 
which  supplants  that  of  others  by  its  own."  The 
Master  said :  "  I  come  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil." 
The  best  teacher  never  seeks  to  efface  an  indi- 
viduality, but  by  effacing  himself  seeks  to  draw 
out  to  full  and  beautiful  proportions  the  noblest 
and  best  in  every  child  committed  to  his  care. 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    PAUPERISM 

In  Mexico  and  in  Persia  a  shaft  of  wood  and 
a  stick  make  a  plough,  and  in  the  greater  part  of 
the  earth  the  dole  of  money  is  about  all  there  is 
of  charity.  Even  in  Europe  and  America  efforts 
at  reform  have  heretofore  seldom  advanced  be- 
yond attempts  to  cure  individual  suffering  and  sin. 
Now,  however,  certain  neglected  factors  in  the 
problem  are  beginning  to  receive  more  attention, 
and  though  the  progress  toward  a  solution  is  as 
yet  small,  the  trend  of  things  is  in  the  right 
direction.  "  How  is  it  possible  to  relieve  want 
and  destitution  without  serious  moral  harm  to 
the  recipients,  injury  to  the  community,  and,  in 
the  end,  increasing  the  amount  of  suffering  .'* " 
This  inquiry  Mr.  Francis  Peek  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  a  paper  read  at  one  of  the  Charity 
Organization  Conferences  in  London,  in  1879. 
It  is  the  inquiry  which  puzzles  all  who  seek  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  poor.  An  attempt 
to  discuss  the  question  in  a  single  chapter  would 
be    sure    evidence   of    never   having   studied    it. 

139 


I40  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

Therefore,  at  present,  I  shall  consider  only  cer- 
tain phases  of  the  subject ;  namely,  pauperism  as 
related  to  heredity  and  environment.  I  will  not 
speak  of  those  only  temporarily  in  financial  dis- 
tress, —  always  a  large  class  ;  nor  yet  of  those 
who  are  able  to  earn  a  decent  living,  but  who 
have  few  luxuries,  and  only  a  limited  number 
of  comforts.  The  condition  of  such  needs  im- 
provement; but,  judging  from  recent  events  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe,  they  are  able  to 
work  out  their  own  salvation,  and  are  doing  so 
surely  and  swiftly.  Neither  will  I  pause  to 
speak  of  the  insane,  or  the  children  of  virtuous 
parents  who  are  left  without  help.  None  of 
these  should  be  forgotten,  but  they  cannot  be 
considered  here. 

Pauperism  denotes  a  condition.  That  condi- 
tion has  been  defined  as  "the  state  of  voluntary 
want," — a  very  inadequate  definition.  All  who 
are  voluntarily  in  want  are  paupers,  but  not  all 
paupers  are  such  voluntarily.  Some  choose  pau- 
perism ;  to  them  it  is  preferable  to  labour.  Others 
are  born  into  pauperism,  and  such  would  often 
gladly  rise  out  of  it,  but  cannot.  They  remain 
paupers  from  lack  of  faculty  rather  than  from 
choice.  A  weight  is  upon  them,  —  the  weight 
of  the  sins  of  past  generations.     It  crushes  like 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  j^j 

a  mountain.  Then  there  are  those  who,  from 
earhest  childhood,  have  had  surroundings  which 
were  vicious  and  wretched.  These  are  often 
physically,  morally,  intellectually  diseased.  They 
are  children  of  the  outcast ;  they  scarcely  can  be 
said  to  have  had  parents,  never  a  home ;  they 
were  simply  born  and  left.  How  large  the  num- 
ber of  these  is  may  easily  be  imagined  after  an 
examination  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  large 
cities.  Members  of  this  class  seldom  dream 
that  there  is  anything  higher  for  them.  Their 
environment  so  hardens  them  to  filth  and  per- 
version that  they  do  not  know  what  it  is  to 
aspire.  These  two  large  classes  —  those  who 
are  paupers  by  heredity,  and  those  who  are 
such  by  environment  —  are  the  hardest  to  reach, 
and  the  most  misunderstood  and  neglected. 

What  are  the  causes  of  pauperism  —  the  worst 
form  of  poverty  }  The  answer  has  been  already 
suggested. 

(i)  Heredity.  —  Paupers  are  largely  the  chil- 
dren of  paupers.  This  is  most  evident  in  the 
older  countries.  We  know  that  not  only  do 
characteristics  of  body  and  mind  run  in  families, 
but  that  diseases  do  the  same ;  not  only  does  tal- 
ent follow  family  lines,  but  so  do  criminal  propen- 
sities ;   and,  moreover,  so  do    those  physical    and 


142 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 


moral  characteristics  which  tend  toward  pau- 
perism. Mr.  Dugdale's  studies  in  this  field  are 
well  known.  With  most  minute  care  he  has, 
by  examinations  running  through  six  genera- 
tions, found  pauperism  hereditary ;  and  as  the 
result  of  an  inductive  study  he  makes  the  state- 
ment that  the  heredity  of  the  tendency  to  pau- 
perism is  quite  as  indisputable  as  that  to  crime 
or  disease.  This,  of  course,  is  only  the  natural 
presumption  from  the  general  law  of  heredity. 
If,  through  many  generations,  the  Bourbon  family 
is  distinguished  by  the  Bourbon  nose,  and  the 
Bach  family  by  talent  for  music,  we  should 
expect  to  find  the  descendants  of  Margaret  Juke 
both  criminals  and  paupers.  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  pauperism  is  not  more  a  disease  than 
a  crime.  Laziness  is  easily  denounced  ;  it  is  not 
so  easily  understood.  It  results  largely  from  lack 
of  vitality.  Where  there  is  abundant  vitality  the 
individual  either  ceases  to  be  a  drone  or  becomes 
a  criminal.  Hence  Mr.  Dugdale  says  :  "  Crime,  as 
compared  to  pauperism,  indicates  vigour."  But 
what  does  lack  of  vitality  signify  .■*  Plainly, 
defective  parentage.  As  men  are  born  with 
physical  deformity,  so  are  they  born  with  mental 
and  moral  deformity.  A  child  of  intemperance 
comes   into   the  world  diseased.     So  of   the   off- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM 


143 


spring  of  the  licentious.  The  parents  have  been 
debilitated  thereby,  and  their  weakness  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  children.  Intemperance  and  licen- 
tiousness often  go  together,  and  paupers  are  born 
of  such  wedlock.  Mr.  Dugdale  says  again : 
"  Hereditary  pauperism  seems  to  be  more  fixed 
than  hereditary  crime ;  for  very  much  of  crime 
is  the  misdirection  of  faculty,  and  is  amenable 
to  discipline,  while  very  much  of  pauperism  is 
due  to  the  absence  of  vital  power,  the  lines  of 
pauperism  being,  in  many  cases,  identical  with 
the  lines  of  organic  disease  of  mind  or  body,  as 
insanity,  consumption,  syphilis,  which  cause,  from 
generation  to  generation,  the  successive  extinction 
of  capacity  till  death  supervenes."  ^  I  have  found 
nothing  on  this  subject  so  concise  and  compre- 
hensive as  Mr.  Dugdale's  "Tentative  Inductions 
on  Pauperism,"  which  I  quote  as  follows  i^  — 

"  I.  Pauperism  is  an  indication  of  weakness  of 
some  kind,  either  youth,  disease,  old  age,  injury ; 
or,  for  women,  childbirth. 

"2.  It  is  divisible  into  hereditary  and  induced 
pauperism. 

"3.  Hereditary  pauperism  rests  chiefly  upon 
disease  in  some   form,  tends  to  terminate  in  ex- 

1  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  p.  50. 

2  Ibid.  pp.  37,  38. 


144  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

tinction,  and  may  be  called  the  sociological 
aspect  of  physical  degeneration. 

"4.  The  debility  and  diseases  which  enter 
most  largely  in  its  production  are  the  result  of 
sexual  licentiousness. 

"  5.  Pauperism  in  adult  age,  especially  in  the 
meridian  of  life,  indicates  a  hereditary  tendency 
which  may  or  may  not  be  modified  by  the  envi- 
ronment. 

"6.  Pauperism  follows  men  more  frequently 
than  women,  indicating  a  decided  tendency  to 
hereditary  pauperism. 

"7.  The  different  degrees  of  adult  pauper- 
ism, from  out-door  relief  to  almshouse  charity, 
indicate  in  the  main  different  gradations  of  wan- 
ing vitality.  In  this  light  the  whole  question  is 
opened  up,  whether  indolence,  which  the  dog- 
matic aphorism  says  'is  the  root  of  all  evil,' 
is  not,  after  all,  a  mark  of  undervitalization, 
and  an  effect  which  acts  only  as  a  secondary 
cause. 

"  8.  Induced  pauperism  results  from  bad  ad- 
ministration of  the  law,  or  temporary  weakness 
or  disability  in  the  recipient. 

"9.  The  pauperism  of  childhood  is  an  acci- 
dent of  life  rather  than  a  hereditary  character- 
istic. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  PAUPERISM  j^r 

"  lo.  The  youngest  child  has  a  tendency  to 
become  the  pauper  of  the  family. 

"II.  Youngest  children  are  more  likely  than 
the  older  ones  to  become  the  inmates  of  the 
poorhouse  through  the  misconduct  or  misfort- 
une of  parents. 

"  12.  Such  younger  children,  who  remain  in- 
mates of  the  almshouse  long  enough  to  form 
associations  that  live  in  the  memory  and  habits 
that  continue  in  the  conduct,  have  a  greater 
tendency  to  revert  spontaneously  to  that  condi- 
tion whenever  any  emergency  of  life  overtakes 
them,  and  domesticate  there  more  readily  than 
older  children  whose  greater  strength  has  kept 
them  out  during  youth. 

"13.  Induced  pauperism  may  lead  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  hereditary  form." 

Mr.  Dugdale's  studies  confirm  my  own  less 
thorough  investigations.  Pauperism  is  primarily 
caused  by  lack  of  vitality,  or  transmitted  weak- 
ness. That  lack  of  vitality  carries  with  it  ten- 
dencies to  thriftless  habits  and  animal  vices 
which  almost  invariably  manifest  themselves  in 
character  and  conduct.  The  pauper  is  not  only 
the  slave  of  poverty,  but  also  the  natural  prey 
of  licentiousness  and  intemperance. 

Though    statistics    show   that    the   children    of 


146 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 


paupers  usually  become  paupers,  they  do  not 
show  by  any  means  that  all  pauperism,  or  even 
the  largest  part  of  it,  is  to  be  accounted  for  in 
this  way. 

(2)  Environment.  —  A  vicious  environment  is 
an  even  more  potent  agent  in  producing  pauper- 
ism. Debilitated  physical  conditions  make  exertion 
distasteful,  and  sometimes  impossible.  A  vitiated 
vital  condition  makes  many  men  insensible  to 
moral  motives.  In  others  repeated  failure  in 
the  attempts  to  rise  to  better  things  has  resulted 
in  despair,  and  despair  is  inert,  except  toward 
evil.  Let  me  quote  a  passage  from  "The  Bitter 
Cry  of  Outcast  London:"  "Every  room  in  these 
rotten  and  reeking  tenement  houses  contains  a 
family,  often  two.  In  one  cellar  a  sanitary  in- 
spector reports  finding  a  father,  mother,  three 
children,  and  four  pigs !  .  .  .  Here  are  seven 
people  living  in  one  underground  kitchen,  and 
a  little  dead  child  lying  in  the  same  room. 
Elsewhere  is  a  poor  widow,  her  three  children, 
and  a  child  who  had  been  dead  thirteen  days. 
Her  husband,  who  was  a  cabman,  had  shortly 
before  committed  suicide.  ...  In  another  room 
nine  brothers  and  sisters,  from  twenty-nine  years 
of  age  downward,  live,  eat,  and  sleep  together. 
Here  is  a  mother  who  turns   her   children    into 


THE   PROBLEM  OF  PAUPERISM  147 

the  Street  in  the  early  evening  because  she  lets 
her  room  for  immoral  purposes  until  long  after 
midnight,  when  the  poor  little  wretches  creep 
back  again,  if  they  have  not  found  some  mis- 
erable shelter  elsewhere."  What  must  be  the 
effect  where  such  is  the  social  environment  of 
a  lifetime  ?  How  idle  to  expect  to  uplift  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  of  such  people  by  a  few 
soup-houses,  a  few  visitors,  and  here  and  there 
mission  chapels !  What  are  these  among  so 
many  ?  Several  years  ago  the  almshouses  of 
New  York  were  carefully  inspected,  and  nearly 
ten  thousand  of  their  inmates  personally  inter- 
viewed. Few  were  found  who  had  ever  owned 
any  property.  Thirty-two  per  cent,  were  wholly 
illiterate,  and  only  thirty  per  cent,  had  received 
a  fair  common-school  education.  Eighty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  men  had  been  intemperate,  and  forty- 
two  per  cent,  among  the  women.  Fifty-five  per 
cent,  had  intemperate  fathers,  and  over  eighty- 
two  per  cent,  intemperate  mothers.  Overcrowd- 
ing, intemperance,  and  the  social  evil  act  and 
react  on  the  pauper,  and  produce  a  progeny  of 
weakness,  vice,  and  crime. 

Dr.  A.  J.  F.  Behrends,  in  "  Socialism  and 
Christianity,"  says  that  the  primary  and  purely 
personal  causes  of  pauperism    are  "  idleness   and 


148  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

improvidence."  Later  in  the  same  lecture  he 
says  :  "  Illiteracy,  intemperance,  overcrowding, 
and  the  looseness  of  the  marriage  tie,  —  these 
are  the  four  social  causes  of  pauperism."  The 
latter  statement  is  undoubtedly  true,  but  the  for- 
mer is  open  to  exception.  It  does  not  go  to  the 
root  of  the  matter.  Defective  parentage,  caused 
by  disease,  intemperance,  sexual  excesses,  and  the 
exhaustion  of  vitality  through  overwork,  is  the  pri- 
mary and  personal  cause  of  pauperism.  "  Idleness 
and  improvidence "  naturally,  and  almost  inevit- 
ably, follow,  and  tend  to  reproduce  themselves 
according  to  the    same  law  by  which  they  exist. 

Among  the  elements  that  go  to  make  an 
environment  conducive  to  pauperism  are  the 
following  :  — 

(a)  The  tendency  of  the  population  to  congregate 
in  cities.  —  The  mountains  and  valleys  and  even 
the  prairies  have  streams  running  to  the  cities. 
Most  of  those  who  go  to  the  towns  are  not 
skilled  labourers ;  they  are  without  trades,  and 
are  impelled  thither  by  desire  for  excitement. 
Their  services  are  not  wanted.  Their  capital, 
if  they  have  any,  is  soon  spent.  If  they  have 
not  sense  and  spirit  enough  to  return  home,  they 
are  soon  on  the  street  begging,  perhaps  stealing. 
If  they  could  be  induced  to  go  back  to  the  country 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  j^q 

there  would  be  hope  for  them,  —  their  only  hope, 
indeed,  for  this  world. 

(b)  Overcrowding.  —  Overcrowding,  partially 
consequent  on  the  rush  to  the  cities,  partially 
the  result  of  the  greed  of  the  landlords,  par- 
tially due  to  the  fact  that  labourers  must  be  near 
the  places  of  work,  is  a  chief  cause  of  evil  envi- 
ronment. What  tongue  or  pen  can  describe  its 
distressing  and  disgusting  features .-'  Read  the 
testimonies  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  and  of  Mr.  H.  C. 
Meyer,  an  American  engineer,  before  the  Royal 
Commission  in  London  in  1884,  on  the  Housing 
of  the  Working  Classes,  published  in  the  "Blue 
Book "  of  the  following  year.  They  show  that 
most  of  the  poor  are  rarely  paupers  at  first.  They 
must  be  near  their  work,  and  are  therefore  com- 
pelled to  take  such  accommodations  as  are  avail- 
able. Few  such  families  in  the  densely  populated 
districts  can  afford  more  than  one  room  ;  and  con- 
cerning life  in  a  single  room  a  part  of  Lord 
Shaftesbury's  testimony — most  of  which  is  too 
terrible  to  repeat  —  is  as  follows:  "The  effect 
of  the  one-room  system  is  physically  and  morally 
beyond  all  description.  In  the  first  place,  the 
one-room  system  always  leads,  so  far  as  I  have 
seen,  to  the  one-bed  system.  If  you  go  into  these 
single  rooms  you  may  sometimes  find  two  beds, 


I50 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


but  you  generally  find  one  bed  occupied  by  the 
whole  family.  ...  It  is  impossible  to  say  how 
fatal  the  result  of  that  is.  In  the  first  place,  it 
is  totally  destructive  of  all  benefit  from  education. 
It  is  a  benefit  to  the  children  to  be  absent  during 
the  day  at  school,  but  when  they  return  to  their 
houses,  in  one  hour  they  unlearn  almost  everything 
they  have  acquired  during  the  day.  .  .  .  The 
one-room  system  may  go  on  very  well  while  there 
are  a  husband  and  wife  and  young  children,  but 
when  the  children  have  reached  the  age  of  eight 
or  ten,  and  have  to  sleep  in  the  same  room  as 
their  parents,  or  with  others,  from  that  hour  the 
consequences  are  most  fearful  both  to  their  morals 
and  to  their  health.  In  the  one-room  system, 
where  the  inmates  are  many,  you  cannot  introduce 
a  sufficient  amount  of  air.  How  remedy  all  this  ? 
You  must  either  insist  upon  a  man  taking  two 
rooms,  or  else  you  must  separate  the  children 
from  the  adults.  Either  case  seems  to  be  an  im- 
possible supposition." 

Let  us  now  consider  conditions  not  yet  fully 
obsolete  in  this  country.  In  1879  the  Tenement 
House  Act  was  passed.  Testifying  before  the 
same  London  Commission,  Mr.  H.  C.  Meyer,  of 
New  York,  said  :  "Prior  to  that  act  about  ninety 
per  cent,  of  the  city  lot  could  be  covered.     The 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  PAUPERISM       151 

authorities  could  not  well  reach  old  dwellings 
that  were  built  for  other  purposes  and  that  were 
subsequently  converted  into  tenement  houses ; 
such  buildings  always  had  a  large  proportion  of 
dark  inside  rooms.  The  division  of  land  in  our 
city  is  very  unfortunate.  The  blocks  are  four 
hundred  feet  long  by  two  hundred  feet  deep ;  the 
streets  are  sixty  feet  wide,  and  ninety  per  cent,  of 
each  one-hundred-foot  lot  could  be  covered.  The 
buildings  were  usually  put  up  five  stories  high, 
and  the  landlord  usually  tried  to  provide  for  four 
families  on  a  floor.  You  can  imagine  in  our  cli- 
mate, from  May  until  the  last  of  September,  the 
condition  of  the  occupants  of  a  large  proportion 
of  the  inside  rooms,  with  for  two  months  the  tem- 
perature averaging  over  eighty  degrees."  Indeed, 
no  city  suffers  more  from  overcrowding  than  New 
York,  The  tenth  ward  has  a  density  of  243,000 
to  the  square  mile.  A  space  of  less  than  thirty 
acres  in  the  fourth  ward  shelters  17,611  persons, 
nearly  600  to  a  plot  two  hundred  feet  square. 
Sixteen  families  in  a  single  twenty-five-foot  dwell- 
ing is  a  common  arrangement.  One  hundred 
souls  in  a  single  tenement  of  that  size  is  not 
unusual,  and  in  some  cases  this  number  is 
doubled.  It  is  said  that  there  are  94,000  families 
in  Berlin  who  live  with  a  single  room  to  a  family, 


152  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

and  that  25,000  of  these  families  burrow  in  ccl 
lars.  In  such  conditions  homes  are  impossible. 
Vice  and  pauperism  naturally  spring  from  such 
soil.  The  districts  most  overcrowded  contain 
the  greatest  number  and  the  vilest  of  dram- 
shops and  the  most  unblushing  licentiousness. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  those  who  live  in 
such  circumstances  are  not  strong,  either  physi- 
cally, mentally,  or  morally,  the  certainty  of  pau- 
perism is  inevitable. 

Lord  Shaftesbury  said  they  had  found  that 
workmen  lost,  on  an  average,  about  twenty  days 
each  year  from  causes  directly  related  to  over- 
crowded and  unsanitary  dwellings.  He  was 
asked  if  he  had  seen  the  pamphlet  called  :  "  Is 
it  the  Sty  that  makes  the  Pig,  or  the  Pig  the 
Sty  .'' "  His  answer  was  :  "  I  am  certain  that  a 
great  many  people  who  are  in  that  condition 
have  been  made  so  by  the  condition  of  the  houses 
in  which  they  live."  He  then  gives  the  gene- 
sis of  a  pauper  family.  "A  young  artisan  in 
the  prime  of  life,  an  intelligent,  active  young 
man,  capable  of  making  his  forty  or  fifty  shil- 
lings a  week,  comes  up  to  London ;  he  must 
have  lodgings  near  his  work ;  he  is  obliged  to 
take,  he  and  his  wife,  the  first  house  that  he 
can  find.   ...      In  a  very  short  time,  of  course, 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  153 

his  health  is  broken  down  ;  he  himself  succumbs. 
The  wife  falls  into  despair;  in  vain  she  tries  to 
keep  her  house  clean ;  her  children  increase 
upon  her,  and  at  last  they  become  reckless,  and 
with  recklessness  comes  drinking,  immorality, 
and  all  the  consequences  of  utter  despair."  ^ 

Overcrowding  means  vitiated  air,  proximity  to 
vice,  consequent  temptation,  and  usually  indul- 
gence in  evil.  Such  conditions  induce  a  weak- 
ened state,  morally  and  physically.  When  the 
body  is  weak,  ambition  dead,  and  the  gate  that 
looks  toward  hope  closed  and  barred,  the  man 
is  already  on  the  verge  of  despair,  and  pauper- 
ism is  then  almost  inevitable.  The  victims  of 
such  conditions  are  not  responsible  for  them. 
Their  pauperism  is  not  voluntary  want.  The 
greed  of  employers  and  property  owners  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  failure  of  the  public  in  mat- 
ters of  sanitation,  education,  and  the  like,  on 
the  other,  are  primarily  responsible.  Only  soci- 
ety has  the  power  to  change  them,  and  on  so- 
ciety therefore  rests  the  duty  of  making  them 
impossible.  An  undertaker,  who  was  also  a 
house-owner,  was  besought  by  Octavia  Hill  to 
improve  his  tenements,  on  the  ground  that  they 
would  be  more   profitable  to  him.      He   replied : 

^  "  Housing  of  the  Working  Classes,"  Blue  Book,  p.  5. 


154 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN    PROBLEMS 


"  O,  mum,  it's  not  the  rents  I  depend  on  for 
my  profits,  it's  the  funerals ! "  Such  a  brute 
exists,  and  carries  on  his  work,  because  those 
who  have  the  abihty  and  the  wisdom  do  not  lift 
up  hands  and  weapons  of  law  and  drive  him  from 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Somebody  is  responsible 
for  pauperism  and  its  attendant  wretchedness 
and  crime;  but  it  is  quite  as  often  the  man  who 
sits  in  the  ceiled  house,  and  the  woman  who 
dresses  in  lace  and  diamonds,  as  the  tramp 
who  begs  or  the  thief  who  steals. 

One  need  not  be  a  socialist  to  see  that  there 
is  no  way  to  get  rid  of  a  destructive  and  vicious 
environment  until  the  State  makes  overcrowd- 
ing impossible,  compels  those  who  build  houses 
for  rental  to  make  them  comfortable,  healthful, 
decent,  and  even  supplies  such  tenements  itself 
where  capitalists  refuse  to  do  so. 

(c)  Intemperance.  —  This  source  and  element 
of  vicious  environment  will  be  treated  of  at 
length  in  the  next  chapter.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  speak  of  it  here.  There  is  no  evil  of  our 
time  more  prolific  of  pauperism. 

(d)  The  esprit  de  corps  of  the  pauper  class.  — 
Strange  to  say,  this  is  an  important  element  of 
evil  and  demoralizing  environment,  and  is  as  evi- 
dent  in  the  ranks  of  pauperism  and   crime  as  it 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  PAUPERISM  155 

was  in  Napoleon's  armies.  It  does  not  apply  to 
the  temporarily  poor,  those  who  have  not  lost 
remembrance  of  better  things,  but  to  paupers 
as  distinguished  from  the  poor.  They  argue  that 
society  owes  them  a  living,  and  they  exult  in  get- 
ting it  without  work.  The  chief  of  this  clan  is 
the  fellow  who  induces  society  to  do  the  most 
for  him  with  the  least  trouble  to  himself.  His 
example  is  a  vicious  inspiration.  Children  born 
amidst  such  an  environment  are  subject,  during 
their  formative  years,  to  the  influence  of  degrad- 
ing ideals,  and  stimulated  by  examples  of  clever 
baseness.  Hence  it  comes  that  the  esprit  de 
corps  of  pauperism  is  one  of  the  most  fruitful 
causes  of  its  increase. 

(e)  Disregard  of  the  marriage  relation.  —  This 
prepares  a  fruitful  soil  for  pauperism.  When 
children  are  born  outside  of  wedlock,  or  to  those 
for  whom  wedlock  has  no  sanctity,  the  responsi- 
bilities of  parents  are  lightly  esteemed.  Under 
such  conditions  thousands  of  street  waifs  come 
into  being.  The  father  commonly  does  not  know 
of  their  existence,  the  mother  is  engrossed  with 
the  struggle  for  existence  and  the  indulgence  of 
her  vices,  and  the  child  is  set  adrift  to  become  a 
pauper  and,  all  too  often,  a  criminal.  How  large 
this  class  is,  the  crowded  Maisenhaus  in  Vienna 


156  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

and   the   Foundling   Hospital   in    London  give  a 
faint  indication. 

(f)  Indiscriminate  giving.  —  When  to  other  con- 
tributory causes  of  pauperism  is  added  the  indis- 
criminate giving  of  the  charitable,  it  ceases  to 
be  a  wonder  that  there  are  so  many  paupers, 
and  only  seems  strange  that  there  are  not  more. 
Mrs.  Josephine  Shaw  Lowell,  of  the  Charity 
Organization  Society  of  New  York,  in  a  paper 
read  before  a  club  of  that  city,  charged  the 
Christian  churches  with  direct  responsibility  for 
a  large  part  of  pauperism.  Indiscriminate  giv- 
ing  leads  paupers  to  reckon  on  the  doles  of  the 
benevolent  as  a  regular  source  of  revenue  irre- 
spective of  merit  or  genuine  need.  "The  com- 
mittee appointed  in  Bristol,  England,  a  few 
years  ago,  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the 
poor,  reports  :  *  No  remedy  can  be  found  for  the 
pauperism  and  mendicancy  of  Bristol  till  a  higher 
tone  exists  in  regard  to  the  sin  of  inconsiderate 
dispensation  to  the  poor.'  'Careless  almsgiving,' 
says  Mr.  William  Low,  '  produces,  directly,  such 
vices  as  imposture,  improvidence,  drunkenness, 
servility,  religious  pretence.' "  Twenty  years 
ago  one  in  every  eighteen  in  London  was  a  pau- 
per. Charity  organization  followed  upon  knowl- 
edge of  this  fact;  and,  as  a  result,  pauperism,  at 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  PAUPERISM       157 

the  end  of  seventeen  years,  had  been  reduced 
from  forty-two  to  twenty-two  in  every  thousand. 
Sooner  or  later  nearly  every  pastor  finds  that 
his  church  is  aiding  those  who  use  piety  as  a 
cloak  for  laziness.  The  rector  of  a  large  parish 
in  New  York  discovered  that  at  one  time  his 
church  contributed  largely  to  the  support  of  two 
maiden  ladies  supposed  to  be  poor  but  worthy, 
who,  on  investigation,  were  found  to  be  owners  of 
the  large  tenement  in  which  they  lived.  There 
are  organized  gangs  of  paupers  in  all  great  cities 
who  make  begging  a  business.  Some  "work" 
the  churches ;  others,  the  Sunday-schools ;  still 
others  go  from  house  to  house.  They  are  adroit, 
persistent,  and  innocent  in  manner ;  and  they 
continue  their  line  of  business  because  it  pays. 
It  would  not  pay  were  it  not  for  misplaced 
charity.  There  is  truth  in  the  French  epi- 
gram, "  Charity  creates  one-half  of  the  misery 
she  relieves,  but  cannot  relieve  one-half  of  the 
misery  she  creates." 

This  study  of  the  factors  of  the  problem  of 
pauperism  has  been  necessary  before  intelligent 
suggestions  could  be  offered  concerning  its  solu- 
tion. In  all  attempted  solutions  there  should  be 
constant  reference  to  the  removal  of  the  causes 
of   the  evil.     Occasional   gifts   to   the   poor  con- 


158 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


stitute  but  a  mere  local  treatment  of  symptoms. 
They  are  like  the  rubbing  of  a  superficial  bodily 
irritation  when  the  seat  of  the  difficulty  is 
within ;  though  there  is  a  temporary  soothing 
of  the  trouble,  the  inflammation  is  really  in- 
creased. So  the  more  one  relieves  pauperism 
by  indiscriminate  giving,  the  more  it  is  aggra- 
vated. The  real  questions  to  be  considered  are 
two :  (i)  How  may  an  industrious  and  virtuous 
stock  be  substituted  for  that  which  breeds  pau- 
pers ?  (2)  How  may  the  conditions  of  living  be 
so  improved  that  the  pauper  class  shall  no  longer 
be  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  the  frugal  and  in- 
dustrious .''  Speaking  again  in  general  terms,  the 
reply  is,  that  there  is  one  and  the  same  answer  for 
both  questions.  Without  ignoring  the  possibilities 
of  appeal  to  the  personality  of  the  very  poor,  the 
chief  way  in  which  a  hard-working  and  frugal  stock 
can  be  secured  is  by  a  change  in  the  existing 
environment ;  and  the  way  offering  the  greatest 
promise  that  the  pauper  class  will  no  more  be 
augmented  from  other  classes,  is  that  of  secur- 
ing such  conditions  as  shall  make  men  unwill- 
ing, even  for  selfish  reasons,  to  sink  to  lower 
levels. 

Let   us    now  note   a   few  principles  which    are 
well  established  by  scientific  investigation. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM 


159 


(i)  "Where  the  organization  is  structurally 
modified,  as  in  idiocy  and  insanity,  or  organically 
weak,  as  in  many  diseases,  the  heredity  is  the 
preponderating  factor  in  determining  the  career; 
but  it  is,  even  then,  capable  of  marked  modifica- 
tion for  better  or  worse  by  the  character  of  the 
environment.  In  other  words,  capacity,  physical 
and  mental,  is  limited  and  determined  mainly  by 
heredity."  ^ 

(2)  "Where  the  conduct  depends  on  the  knowl- 
edge of  moral  obligation  (excluding  insanity  and 
idiocy),  the  environment  has  more  influence  than 
the  heredity.  .  .  .  The  use  to  which  capacity 
shall  be  put  is  largely  governed  by  the  imper- 
sonal training  or  agency  of  environment."  ^ 

(3)  The  correction  for  vicious  heredity  is 
change  of  environment. 

(4)  "  Environment  tends  to  produce  habits 
which  may  become  hereditary,  especially  so  in 
pauperism  and  licentiousness."^ 

"  If  these  conclusions  are  correct,  then  the 
whole  question  of  the  control  of  crime  and  pau- 
perism becomes  possible,  within  wide  limits,  if 
the  necessary  training  can  be  made  to  reach 
over  two  or  three  generations.  From  the  above 
considerations  the  logical  induction    seems  to  be 

1  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  p.  65.  «  /^£^.  p.  66.  «  Ibid 


l60  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

that  environment  is  the  ultimate  controlling  fac- 
tor in  determining  careers,  placing  heredity  as 
an  organized  result  of  invariable   environment."  ^ 

These  principles  are  fundamental.  Heredity 
may  be  changed  by  environment.  The  lungs 
of  the  ancient  Peruvians  became  expanded  — 
structurally  changed  —  because  of  the  rarefied 
air  they  breathed.  The  white  child  of  the  trop- 
ics delights  in  heat  which  would  enervate  a 
dweller  in  northern  lands,  and  yet  their  ances- 
tors sprang  from  the  same  racial  stock.  Change 
in  environment  has  caused  change  in  organism. 
The  principle  holds  also  in  the  moral  sphere. 

We  have,  then,  an  answer  to  the  question. 
What  can  be  done  to  diminish  pauperism .''  We 
must  change  the  environment  of  the  poor. 
Those  who  accept  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  "We, 
then,  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmi- 
ties of  the  weak,"  as  expressing  a  universal 
principle,  must  devote  themselves  to  the  crea- 
tion of  new  and  more  healthy  conditions  in 
which  those  below  them  can  live  and  improve. 
Not,  however,  by  individual  effort  alone;  organized 
society,  that  is,  the  State,  must  also  do  its  part. 

What  can  the  State  do .-'  It  can  make  it  im- 
possible for  individuals  or  corporations  to  monop- 

^  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  p.  66. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  jgj 

olize  the  land.  This  evil  is  only  beginning  to 
show  itself  in  the  United  States ;  but  in  Europe 
it  exists  on  a  vast  scale.  The  State  can  so  pro- 
tect citizens  in  their  right  to  the  land  that  no 
one  shall  be  denied  a  home  who  desires  one  of 
his  own  and  is  able  to  pay  for  it ;  and  none  who 
are  willing  to  devote  themselves  to  agriculture 
shall  be  kept  from  it  while  land  is  lying  idle. 

The  State  should  not  allow  the  erection  for 
residence  of  buildings  unfit  to  be  abodes  for 
human  beings.  It  may  be  a  question  whether 
the  State  should  assume  the  functions  of  a  land- 
lord, though  I  can  see  no  more  reason  why  it 
should  carry  our  mail  than  why  it  should  build 
our  houses.  It  will  hardly  be  questioned,  how- 
ever, that  building  laws  can  be  passed  and  en- 
forced, compelling  landlords  to  erect  only  such 
dwellings  as  shall  make  homes  possible,  and 
subjecting  all  that  are  erected  to  periodic  and 
rigid  inspection.  Overcrowding  should  be  made 
as  criminal  as  stealing.  Laws  forbid  overcrowd- 
ing on  the  sea ;  why  not  on  the  land  .-•  This  evil 
is  persistent  and  vital,  but  it  can  be  eradicated. 
If  any  doubt,  let  them  read  the  account  of  the 
changed  condition  of  Whitechapel  since  the  Eng- 
lish Building  Acts  were  enforced. ^ 

^  See  New  Review,  October,  1889. 


1 62  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

The  State  can  do  something  by  passing  uni- 
form marriage  and  divorce  laws,  and  compelling 
proper  provision  for  many  children  who  would 
otherwise  grow  up  in  neglect. 

It  can  also  diminish,  and,  with  the  advance  of 
public  sentiment,  finally  abolish,  the  saloon,  and 
thus  remove  a  most  prolific  source  of  pauperism. 

The  State  can  attach  to  the  postal  service  a 
system  of  Penny  Savings  Banks,  so  that  there 
shall  be  before  all  people,  even  little  children,  a 
constant  incentive  to  industry  and  frugality.  The 
people  will  trust  the  nation  when  they  would  not 
'crust  individuals.  And  it  should  be  as  universal 
as  the  postal  system,  so  that  not  only  in  cities 
but  also  in  towns  and  country  districts  there  may 
be  an  opportunity  of  investing  small  sums. 

We  thus  see  that  it  is  within  the  power  of  the 
State  to  make  monopoly  in  land  impossible ;  to 
compel  the  erection  of  dwellings  which  shall  put 
a  premium  on  decent  living  and  good  behaviour, 
the  dwellings  to  be  rented  at  prices  which  the 
poor  can  pay ;  to  pass  uniform  marriage  laws  ;  to 
abolish  the  saloon  ;  and  to  establish  Postal  Penny 
Savings  Banks,  in  all  these  ways  creating  a  better 
environment  for  the  people.  And  it  can  do  one 
thing  more,  —  it  can  make  pauperism  criminal. 
Certain  localities  do  this  now,  but  there  would  be 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  163 

no  serious  encroachment  on  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual if  general  laws  to  this  effect  were  enacted. 

What  can  churches  do  toward  the  creation  of 
conditions  which  shall  do  away  with  pauperism  ? 
They  can  utterly  refuse  aid  to  any  but  those  who 
on  full  investigation  are  proved  to  be  deserving. 
This  would  cut  off  the  support  of  thousands  who 
find  it  easy  to  impose  on  the  kind-hearted,  and 
whose  sole  ground  of  confidence  is  that  their 
statements  will  never  be  investigated.  So  far  as 
practicable,  churches  should  work  through  charity 
organization  societies,  to  which  all  cases  requiring 
help  should  be  referred  for  investigation.  But 
churches  are  jealous,  and  object  to  intrusion.  A 
Church  Exchange  has  been  suggested  in  which, 
on  stated  occasions,  the  officers  having  charge  of 
the  beneficence  of  the  churches,  Roman  Catholic 
and  Protestant,  should  meet  and  compare  notes, 
and  thus  learn  whether  they  have  not  members 
in  common  who  in  one  ward  believe  in  Apostolic 
Succession,  in  Close  Communion  in  another,  in 
High  Calvinism  in  a  third,  their  chameleon  creeds 
being  due  entirely  to  their  insatiable  appetite  for 
doles.  A  Church  Exchange  would  be  feasible 
in  villages  and  small  cities,  but  perhaps  the  char- 
ity organization  plan  is  better  for  large  cities. 

But,   more   than   all    else,  churches   can    effect 


l^A  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN    PROBLEMS 

much  by  rising  to  an  appreciation  of  the  fact  that 
the  gospel  is  for  the  whole  life  of  man.  Jesus 
Christ  came  to  save  men  in  this  world  as  well  as 
in  the  world  to  come.  Whatever  ennobles  and 
beautifies  humanity ;  whatever  makes  possible  a 
worthy  life  for  man  as  a  child  of  God  here  and 
now,  belongs  to  the  mission  of  the  Church,  and 
should  be  recognized  and  publicly  confessed  by 
it  as  belonging  to  that  mission.  Nor  is  that  all ; 
for  the  best  effect,  this  large  and  generous  con- 
ception of  Christianity  should  be  preached  in 
churches  whose  doors  and  pews  are  free  to  all, 
—  so  free  that  a  tramp  may  feel  at  Hberty  to 
be  there,  even  though  he  sleeps.  There  are 
churches  and  churches.  Some  content  them- 
selves with  sustaining  the  worship  of  the  sanctu- 
ary for  the  elect  who  are  able  to  pay  for  pews ; 
others,  though  they  keep  the  pew  system,  make 
their  places  of  worship  the  religious  centres  and 
homes  of  the  community,  and  organize  to  move 
in  solid  phalanx  on  the  ranks  of  vice  and  degra- 
dation. The  Congregational  Union  of  London 
might  well  be  studied  by  all  churches.  It  works 
systematically.  It  provides  for  the  poor,  preach- 
ing, bright  and  cheerful  entertainments,  and  work 
for  those  who  are  willing  to  work ;  it  puts  boots 
on   children,  and   sends   them  to   school ;   it  pro- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  165 

vides  five  o'clock  breakfasts  on  Sunday  morning, 
where  men  are  fed  before  being  asked  to  listen 
to  sermons ;  it  searches  for  the  deserving  who 
are  willing  to  emigrate  and  sends  them  to  the 
colonies ;  it  allows  no  heedless  giving,  but  strives 
in  all  ways  to  open  the  door  of  hope  before  those 
who  live  in  darkness  and  despair.  The  Secretary 
of  this  Union  issued  "The  Bitter  Cry  of  Out- 
cast London,"  that  exceedingly  bitter  cry  which 
has  echoed  around  the  world.  It  was  significant, 
showing  that  the  Church  was  far  in  advance 
of  Parliament  in  its  appreciation  of  the  social 
condition  and  needs  of  England. 

Thus  in  various  ways  churches  can  do  much 
toward  creating  an  environment  which  shall  min- 
imize pauperism.  They  can  refuse  to  counte- 
nance almsgiving  except  on  fullest  investigation ; 
they  can  give  up  their  prejudices  and  sectarian 
rivalries,  and  organize  a  Church  Exchange  by 
which  only  the  deserving  shall  be  helped ;  they 
can  work  through  the  charity  organization  so- 
cieties ;  and,  better  than  all,  they  can  realize 
that  Christ  came  to  save  men,  body  and  soul ; 
they  can  preach  this  generous  gospel,  and  can 
give  themselves  to  a  wider,  more  intelligent, 
and  more  Christlike  ministration  which  will  up- 
lift   men,   restore    them    to    manhood,    and    thus 


1 66  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

help  them  toward,  if  not  into,  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

What  can  individuals  do  to  create  an  environment 
which  shall  gradually  exterminate  pauperism  ? 

They  can  learn  that  giving  to  beggars  is  giving 
to  multiply  beggars.  They  can  remember  that 
even  paupers  are  children  of  God  for  whom  Christ 
died,  and  therefore  worthy  of  best  and  most 
thoughtful  efforts  for  improvement.  The  current 
philosophy  says,  The  fittest  will  survive  :  let  the 
rest  die.  The  religion  of  Christ  says,  That 
maxim  as  applied  to  men  is  just  only  as  regards 
their  characteristics,  of  which  indeed  only  the 
fittest  should  survive.  It  does  not  and  cannot 
apply  to  the  men  themselves,  since  all  men, 
being  children  of  God,  are  supremely  fit.  The 
very  fact  that  a  human  being  is  sick,  weak,  poor, 
an  outcast  and  a  vagabond,  is  the  strongest 
possible  appeal  for  effort  toward  his  salvation. 
Let  individuals  look  upon  humanity  from  the 
point  of  view  of  Christ,  and  they  will  not 
be  long  in  finding  ways  in  which  environment 
can  be  bettered  and  caused  to  make  for  right- 
eousness. 

A  gentleman  of  wealth  started  the  Polytechnic 
Institute  on  Regent  Street  in  London.  It  edu- 
cates to  industry  and    high    ideals   about    fifteen 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  igy 

hundred  young  people  each  year.  Paupers  are 
seldom,  if  ever,  found  among  those  who  have 
studied  there.  A  number  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge students  live  and  work  in  the  University 
and  Public  School  Settlements  and  the  Mansfield 
House,  East  and  South  London.  There  young 
men  from  the  universities  go,  not  technically  to 
be  missionaries,  though  in  a  missionary  spirit,  but 
to  improve  the  conditions  of  life  at  Whitechapel. 
Toynbee  Hall,  the  Oxford  House,  Mansfield 
House  in  the  East,  and  Browning  Hall  in  the 
South,  —  the  worst  districts  of  London,  —  show 
what  certain  individuals  are  doing  to  solve  the 
problem  of  pauperism.  They  live  among  the  peo- 
ple, go  among  them,  and  try  to  elevate  their  local 
affairs.  They  are  on  the  poor-boards  and  the 
school-boards;  —  the  head  of  Mansfield  House  is 
an  alderman;  —  they  assist  the  police  in  the  sup- 
pression of  vice,  and  the  like,  and  thus  are  them- 
selves trained  for  larger  and  better  work  in  the 
future.  What  these  young  men  and  women 
are  doing  in  England  is  being  done  by  others 
equally  consecrated  in  this  country,  in  Andover 
House,  Boston;  in  Hull  House,  Chicago;  in  the 
Whittier  House,  Jersey  City;  in  the  University 
and  College  Settlements  in  New  York  and  in 
many  other  cities. 


1(58  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

The  hero  and  heroine  of  "  All  Sorts  and  Condi- 
tions of  Men  "  are  believed  to  be  well  known,  and 
their  work  to  have  been  the  inspiration  of  Mr. 
Besant's  book.  He  described  an  ideal  Palace  of 
Delight  which  a  few  years  ago  had  no  existence. 
To-day  it  is  a  veritable  reality.  In  1887  it  was 
opened  by  the  Queen, — a  vast  institution  with 
industrial  classes,  art  classes,  a  cooking  school,  a 
hall  seating  two  or  three  thousand  people,  where 
the  best  music  in  the  kingdom  is  to  be  heard  as 
frequently  as  at  the  West  End ;  an  art  gallery,  in 
which  at  least  once  has  been  seen  the  finest  col- 
lection of  modern  paintings  to  be  found  in  Great 
Britain.  And  this  music,  this  art,  these  libraries 
and  reading-rooms,  these  places  for  amusement 
and  improvement,  are  to  be  enjoyed  by  any 
dweller  in  the  heart  of  East  London  for  a  merely 
nominal  admission.  Crowds  go  there.  Life  is 
made  nobler  and  sweeter.  Young  men  and 
maidens  drawn  from  music-halls  and  saloons  see 
something  worth  thinking  and  talking  about. 
Boys  and  girls  with  some  natural  gifts  are  sought 
out  and  trained  to  arts  and  industries.  In  ad- 
dition to  these,  travel  classes  are  formed,  and 
men,  women,  and  children  are  taken  to  the  coun- 
try for  excursions  in  which  recreation  and  instruc- 
tion  are   combined.     And,  still   better,  the   poor 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   PAUPERISM  igg 

and  friendless  are  brought  near  to  pure  and  noble 
spirits,  who  show  them  that  none  have  any  greater 
privilege  than  being  permitted  to  uplift  those  who 
suffer  and  those  who  sin. 

But  perhaps  the  most  helpful  of  all  agencies 
started  by  individuals  in  this  crusade  against 
pauperism  was  the  experiment  of  Octavia  Hill. 
It  is  no  longer  an  experiment,  but  an  assured  and 
magnificent  success.  It  occurred  to  her  to  go  into 
the  heart  of  London's  poorest  districts,  take  old 
buildings  and  make  them  clean  and  well-equipped 
dwellings,  and  as  soon  as  possible  replace  them 
with  new  ones.  She  laid  her  plan  before  John 
Ruskin,  and  he  furnished  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
money  for  the  venture.  Miss  Hill  carried  her 
scheme  into  effect  in  person.  She  not  only  trans- 
formed old  rookeries,  making  them  comfortable 
and  healthful,  but  took  up  her  residence  in  one  of 
them,  kept  the  stairs  and  halls  as  clean  as  her  own 
rooms,  filled  the  vacant  places  with  flowers,  be- 
came the  friend  and  helper  of  the  women  and 
children,  set  an  example  of  careful  housekeeping 
which  was  a  constant  inspiration,  and  then  in- 
sisted that  her  rents  should  be  paid.  She  demon- 
strated that,  however  it  may  be  among  animals, 
among  human  beings  the  "sty"  has  much  to  do 
with  making  the  pig.     In  other  words,  she  proved 


170  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

that  people  who  have  decent  homes  and  a  chance 
to  see  beautiful  things  are  usually  influenced  by 
these  things.  Her  example  has  already  been  fol- 
lowed, to  some  extent,  in  Europe  and  America, 
and  it  is  likely  that  by  following  and  extending 
it  in  the  future  most  will  be  done  toward  solving 
our  problem. 

These  are  hints  to  the  Christian  worker,  and 
most  suggestive  phenomena  to  the  Christian  stu- 
dent. Similar  and  more  familiar  phenomena  are 
to  be  found  in  the  work  of  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  of  New  York,  and  in  the  model  tenements 
which  have  been  erected  in  some  of  our  cities. 
They  all  illustrate  the  principle  to  which  atten- 
tion is  here  directed,  —  that  environment  affects 
character.  Our  only  hope  that  the  problem  of 
pauperism  will  ever  be  solved  is  in  the  fact  that 
new  and  higher  conditions  always  do  much  for  the 
improvement  of  human  nature,  however  degraded 
it  may  have  become. 

At  the  same  time  the  inscrutable  element  of 
personality  must  never  be  overlooked,  even  in 
the  lowest.  Individual  responsibility  is  an  ulti- 
mate reality.  We  begin  life  where  others  put  us, 
but  after  that  we  choose  for  ourselves.  Heredity 
furnishes  each  man  his  capital,  but  compels  none 
in  its  use.     However  much  is  done  for  the  eleva- 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  PAUPERISM 


171 


tion  of  the  pauper  and  lowest  classes,  all  efforts 
must  fail  unless  they  succeed  in  awakening  their 
consciousness  of  responsibility  and  consequent 
ability.  This  fact  gives  dignity  and  importance 
to  personal  appeals  which  have  no  other  object 
than  the  reinforcing  of  weak  wills.  To  accomplish 
this  supreme  result  no  force  is  more  potent  than 
friendship,  and  the  efforts  of  those  who  in  public 
and  private,  but  always  in  a  spirit  of  love,  impress 
upon  the  weak  the  fact  that  they  possess  responsi- 
bility, and  that  others  are  interested  in  them  and 
waiting  in  right  ways  to  help. 

At  the  close  of  this  discussion  I  record  my  con- 
viction that  no  permanent  work  for  humanity  will 
ever  be  accomplished  without  heeding  the  follow- 
ing fundamental  Christian  truth. 

All  men  —  paupers,  thieves,  murderers  —  are 
children  of  God,  and  therefore  worth  saving ;  they 
are  destined  for  an  endless  existence,  and  therefore 
the  most  heroic  and  self-sacrificing  effort  in  their 
behalf  becomes  a  privilege  and  an  honour. 

Finally,  efforts  for  the  amelioration  of  human- 
ity require  time  for  successful  result.  The  bale- 
ful effects  of  evil  inheritance  —  which  are  like 
streams  running  through  many  generations  —  are 
not  easily  overcome.  In  character,  as  in  disease, 
more  than  one  generation  is  needed  to  eradicate 


1/2 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


evil  tendencies.  But,  as  tlie  pliysical  constitution  is 
changed  for  the  better  if  kept  long  enough  in  pure 
air  and  bright  sunshine,  so  the  lowest  and  most 
degraded  humanity  becomes  ennobled  and  beauti- 
fied if  taken  out  of  its  surroundings  of  idleness, 
vice,  and  crime,  and  kept  in  the  tonic  air  of  pure 
example  and  loving  associations,  and  beneath  the 
bright  and  tender  sky  of  the  eternal  Father's  love. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  VICE  AND  CRIME 

We  have  seen  that  while  the  tendencies  of  a 
man  are  fixed  at  his  birth,  yet  what  he  is  actually 
is  determined  by  an  "infinite  number  of  influences 
which  have  a  powerful  effect  upon  his  ultimate 
constitution  for  good  or  evil ; "  and  we  have  con- 
sidered briefly  the  bearing  of  these  truths  upon 
the  problem  of  pauperism.  It  remains  to  be  said 
that  a  large  part  of  intemperance,  also,  and  of 
licentiousness  and  crime,  is  produced  by  heredity 
and  induced  by  environment ;  and  that  conse- 
quently all  intelligent  and  successful  effort  for 
the  removal  of  these  evils  must  begin  with  a  study 
of  the  relation  of  these  agencies  to  the  facts. 

Heredity,  Environ7nent,  aiid  Intemperance.  —  In 
a  previous  chapter  the  general  fact  that  a  tendency 
to  intemperance  is  very  often  inherited  has  been 
pointed  out ;  it  is  my  purpose  here  to  add  the  tes- 
timony of  a  few  specialists  too  honoured  to  allow  of 
a  suggestion  of  partisanship,  and  then  to  consider 
the  relation  of  the  fact  to  the  problem  of  reform. 

173 


174 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


Dr.  T.  D.  Crothers,  of  Walnut  Lodge,  Hartford, 
in  a  paper  on  "Inebriety  and  Heredity"  (1886), 
makes  the  following  statements :  "  Alcoholic  hered- 
ity, or  the  transmission  of  a  special  tendency  to 
use  spirits  or  any  narcotic,  to  excess,  is  much  more 
common  than  is  supposed.  ...  In  the  line  of  di- 
rect heredity — or  those  inebriates  whose  parents  or 
grandparents  used  spirits  to  excess  —  we  find  that 
about  one  in  every  three  cases  can  be  traced  to 
inebriate  ancestors."  "Quite  a  large  proportion 
of  these  parents  are  moderate,  or  only  occasional 
excessive  users  of  spirits.  If  the  father  is  a  mod- 
erate drinker,  and  the  mother  a  nervous,  consump- 
tive woman,  or  one  with  a  weak,  nervous  organi- 
zation, inebriety  very  often  follows  in  the  children. 
If  both  parents  use  wine  or  beer  on  the  table 
continuously,  temperate,  sober  children  will  be  the 
exception.  If  the  mother  uses  various  forms  of 
alcoholic  drinks  as  medicines,  or  narcotic  drugs 
for  real  or  imaginary  purposes,  the  inebriety  of 
the  children  is  very  common.  Many  cases  have 
been  noted  of  mothers  using  wine,  beer,  or  some 
form  of  alcoholic  drinks,  for  lung  trouble,  or  other 
affections,  and  the  children  born  during  this  period 
have  been  inebriates,  while  others  born  before  and 
after  this  drink-period  have  been  temperate." 

In  the  group  of  heredities  called  indirect,  Dr. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE  AND   CRIME 


175 


Crothers  finds  the  cause  of  about  one-fourth  of  all 
inebriety. 

But  the  influence  on  succeeding  generations  of 
evil  habit  —  or  its  equivalent  in  the  form  of  disease 
—  goes  farther  than  the  formation  of  a  tendency  to 
alcoholism.  Of  the  group  called  by  Dr.  Crothers 
"  complex  border-land  cases,"  or  those  where  an- 
cestors have  been  victims  of  diseases  which  tend 
toward  the  drink-habit,  or  to  conditions  which 
favour  it,  he  says,  not  only  that  "fully  one-fourth 
of  all  inebriates  are  of  this  class,"  but  also 
that,  "  in  these  cases  there  seems  to  be  in  certain 
families  a  regular  cycle  of  degenerative  diseases. 
Thus  in  one  generation  great  eccentricity,  genius, 
and  a  high  order  of  emotional  development.  .  .  . 
In  the  next  generation  insane,  inebriates,  feeble- 
minded, or  idiots.  In  the  third  generation  pau- 
pers, criminals,  tramps,  epileptics,  idiots,  insane, 
consumptives,  and  inebriates.  In  the  fourth 
generation  they  die  out,  or  may  swing  back  to 
great  genius,  pioneers  and  heroes,  or  leaders  of 
extreme  movements."  The  study  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  inebriates  shows  both  mental  and  physical 
legacies  of  evil  from  parents.  "  Bad-shaped  heads 
and  bodies,  retarded  or  excessive  growth,  club 
feet,  cleft  palate,  defective  eyesight,  great  gross- 
ness  of  organization,  or  extreme  frailty  of  develop- 


1/6 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 


ment,  are  common  among  children  of  this  class. 
Mental  heredity  is  equally  clear.  Mental  insta- 
bility and  mental  feebleness  are  common.  From 
this  mental  heritage  result :  (i)  diminution  of 
longevity ;  (2)  the  race  with  the  evil  entail  must 
die  out ;  (3)  where  this  heredity  is  retarded,  or 
accelerated,  by  union  with  different  currents  of 
heredity,  strange  compounds  result,  as,  for  exam- 
ple, if  to  alcoholic-heredity  is  united  a  heritage  of 
insanity,  idiocy  and  all  grades  of  criminals,  pau- 
pers, and  mixed  insanities  follow." 

Ribot  says:  "The  passion  known  as  dipso- 
mania, or  alcoholism,  is  so  frequently  transmitted 
that  all  are  agreed  in  considering  its  heredity  as 
the  rule.  Not,  however,  that  the  passion  for  drink 
is  always  transmitted  in  that  identical  form,  for 
it  often  degenerates  into  mania,  idiocy,  and  hal- 
lucination. Conversely,  insanity  in  the  parents 
may  become  alcoholism  in  the  descendants.  This 
continued  metamorphosis  plainly  shows  how  near 
passion  comes  to  insanity,  how  closely  the  succes- 
sive generations  are  connected,  and,  consequently, 
what  a  weight  of  responsibility  rests  on  each  in- 
dividual." 1  Dr.  Morel,  of  Paris,  had  "  an  opportu- 
nity of  proving  the  hereditary  effects  of  alcoholism 
in  the  'children  of  the  Commune.'  He  inquired 
into  the  mental   state  of  one  hundred   and    fifty 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  85. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE  AND   CRIME 


177 


children,  ranging  from  ten  to  seventeen  years  of 
age,  most  of  whom  had  been  taken  with  arms  in 
their  hands  behind  the  barricades.  'This  exami- 
nation,' he  says,  'has  confirmed  me  in  my  previous 
convictions' as  to  the  baneful  effects  produced  by 
alcohol,  not  only  in  the  individuals  who  use  this 
detestable  drink  to  excess,  but  also  in  their  de- 
scendants. On  their  depraved  physiognomy  is 
impressed  the  threefold  stamp  of  physical,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  degeneracy.' "  ^  Dr.  Elam,  after 
describing  the  effects  of  inebriety  on  the  indi- 
vidual using  alcohol,  says  :  "  All  this,  fearful  as 
it  is,  would  be  comparatively  of  trifling  impor- 
tance, did  the  punishment  descend  only  on  the 
individual  concerned,  and  terminate  there.  Un- 
fortunately this  is  not  so,  for  there  is  no  phase 
of  humanity  in  which  hereditary  influence  is  so 
marked  and  characteristic  as  in  this.  The  chil- 
dren unquestionably  do  suffer  for  or  from  the 
sins  of  the  parent,  even  unto  untold  generations. 
And  thus  the  evil  spreads  from  the  individual  to 
the  family,  from  family  to  community  and  to  the 
population  at  large,  which  is  endangered  in  its 
highest  interests  by  the  presence  and  contact  of 
2i 'morbid  variety'  m  its  midst."  ^     Erasmus  Dar- 

1  Heredity,  Ribot,  p.  87. 

^A  Physician^ s  Problems,  Elam,  pp.  108,  109. 

N 


178  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

win,  in  his  "Botanical  Garden"  (1781),  says  :  "It 
is  remarkable  that  all  the  diseases  from  drinking 
spirituous  or  fermented  liquors  are  liable  to  be- 
come hereditary,  even  to  the  third  generation, 
gradually  increasing,  if  the  cause  be  continued, 
till  the  family  becomes  extinct."  ^ 

Intemperance  is  both  a  vice  and  a  disease. 
As  a  disease,  it  results  from  many  causes,  chief 
among  which  is  heredity,  though  environment 
also  plays  its  part.  Dr.  Crothers  accounts  for  by 
far  the  largest  part  —  at  least  three-fourths  —  of 
all  inebriety  either  by  direct  or  indirect  heredity. 

As  a  vice,  the  chief  agent  in  promoting  it  is 
environment.  The  wonder  is  that  so  few  are 
intemperate  rather  than  so  many.  The  perni- 
cious environment  is  very  complex  and  difficult 
of  analysis.  Example  does  much ;  discontent 
and  wretchedness  do  more. 

Many  are  miserable  as  a  consequence  of  drink, 
more  drink  because  they  are  miserable.  Misery 
as  a  cause  of  inebriety  is  a  department  of  inquiry 
that  the  professional  reformer  seldom  touches. 
Unhappy  marriages  are  responsible  for  much 
intemperance, 

"  I  myself  must  mix  with  action 
Lest  I  wither  by  despair," 

1  Fou7idation  of  Death,  Gustafson,  p.  174. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE  AND   CRIME  ijg 

explains  not  only  much  of  the  mad  activity  of 
our  time,  but  a  large  part  of  its  dissipation  also. 
An  environment  of  suffering,  with  little  trust  in 
Providence,  or  faith  that  happiness  in  the  sequel 
works  with  righteousness,  results  in  attempts  to 
drown  consciousness  in  alcohol,  or  to  dull  it  with 
opiates.  Moderate  drinking  does  not  always  or 
usually,  among  the  better  classes,  end  in  drunken- 
ness. Its  evil  appears  more  in  the  second  gen- 
eration than  in  the  first ;  but  failure  in  business, 
unhappy  domestic  life,  ill-health  long  continued, 
change  the  cry  in  "  Locksley  Hall "  to 

"  I  must  drown  myself  in  liquor 
Lest  I  wither  by  despair." 

Intemperance  is  of  course  a  potent  cause  of 
misery;  but  the  reverse  is  equally  true,  —  misery 
is  the  cause  of  intemperance.  What  strong  and 
perennial  fountains,  then,  of  the  thirst  for  strong 
drink  must  the  slums  of  our  great  cities  be, 
where  tens  and  even  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
people  live  amidst  conditions  which  forbid  aspira- 
tion and  even  decency,  and  invite  despondency 
and  despair  !  Often  the  saloon  is  under  the  same 
roof,  and  the  sight  and  fumes  of  liquor  constantly 
present ;  while  the  food  is  so  coarse  that  any- 
thing which  promises  to  help  digest  it,  is  welcome. 
Add    to    this    that    most    of   the    restraint    which 


l8o  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

comes  from  the  approval  of  the  good  is  absent, 
and  the  wonder  is  that  so  many  live  decent 
lives.  The  poor  drinking-water  is  a  contribu- 
tory cause  of  intemperance.  Where  vile  water  is 
supplied  to  the  people,  a  large  proportion  of  them 
will  prefer  beer,  which  is  usually  made  with  water 
from  artesian  wells,  to  water  that  comes  in  pipes 
saturated  by  the  filth  of  sewers.  In  many  cities 
any  very  considerable  temperance  reform  is  impos- 
sible until  a  good  water  supply  is  secured. 

Tenement-house  education,  too,  is  an  ever-active 
influence  for  evil.  Children  grow  where  the  social 
atmosphere  is  vile,  the  words  they  hear  are  vic- 
ious, and  liquor  is  the  common  drink.  A  child 
born  and  reared  in  such  circumstances  is  almost 
past  praying  for,  unless  he  is  taken  out  of  them 
and  placed  where  purity  and  virtue  can  have  a 
fair  chance  with  him.  A  large  number  of  those 
who  become  drunkards  are  young  men  who  live 
in  cities  and  towns,  in  boarding-houses.  A  young 
man  works  all  day.  Evening  comes  ;  where  shall 
he  go  .■*  He  has  no  fire  in  his  room,  and  is  not 
wanted  at  his  lodgings.  He  naturally  craves 
society  ;  where  shall  he  get  it  .-•  In  the  street } 
The  streets  of  any  large  city  at  night  are  full  of 
temptations.  He  thinks  he  will  try  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.       That  is  for  mem- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE   AND   CRIME 


I8l 


bers.  He  thinks  he  can  at  least  go  into  the 
reading-room ;  but  there  he  often  finds  a  sign 
saying,  "Any  persons  not  members  must  apply  at 
the  desk  for  permission  to  enter."  He  goes  out. 
Shall  he  go  to  a  church  ?  The  churches  are  closed, 
and  as  cold  and  gloomy  as  prisons.  Not  so  the 
saloon  ;  that  is  always  open.  There  he  finds  music 
and  papers,  rational  and  decent  amusement,  and 
a  lot  of  genial  fellows  ;  and  the  devil  manipulates 
all.  I  have  walked  the  streets  of  large  cities,  try- 
ing to  find  some  place  in  which  I  could  pass  the 
evening  pleasantly  ;  and  the  only  doors  open  to  me, 
with  my  resources,  were  those  of  the  theatre,  the 
saloon,  and  what  is  equally  persistent  and  more 
infamous.  The  wonder  is  that  men  in  such  cir- 
cumstances are  as  decent  as  they  are.  Some  of 
them  are  sons  of  drunkards,  and  are  now  amidst 
conditions  that  tend  to  develop  all  that  is  bad 
in  them.  The  exigencies  of  daily  life  place 
them  where  the  odds  are  against  sobriety  and 
decency.  Heredity  has  too  often  furnished  a 
nature  more  or  less  vitiated ;  environment  now 
surrounds  it  with  fascinating  allurements,  and 
intemperance  follows  as  naturally  as  a  harvest 
from  the  sowing  of  seed. 

Heredity,  Environment,  and   Crime.  —  The   he- 
reditary nature  of  the  criminal  propensity  is  un- 


1 82  HEREDITY   AND    CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

questionable.  By  this  is  not  meant  simply  that 
criminals  are  children  of  criminals^  but  also  that 
they  inherit  such  traits  of  physical  and  psychi- 
cal constitution  as  naturally  lead  to  crime.  Ri- 
bot  says :  "  The  heredity  of  the  tendency  to 
thieving  is  so  generally  admitted  that  it  would 
be  superfluous  to  bring  together  here  facts  which 
abound  in  every  record  of  judicial  proceedings." 
He  cites  as  an  illustration  the  genealogy  of  the 
Chretien  family  from  Dr.  Despine's  "Psychol- 
ogic Naturelle." 

"  The  father  had  three  sons :  Pierre,  Thomas, 
and  Jean-Baptiste.  i.  Pierre  had  a  son,  Jean- 
Francois,  who  was  condemned  for  life  to  hard 
labour  for  robbery  and  murder.  2.  Thomas  had 
two  sons  :  (i)  Francois,  condemned  to  hard  labour 
for  murder,  and  (2)  Martin,  condemned  to  death 
for  murder.  Martin's  son  died  in  Cayenne, 
whither  he  had  been  transported  for  robbery, 
3.  Jean-Baptiste  had  a  son,  Jean-Frangois,  whose 
wife  was  Marie  Taure  (belonging  to  a  family 
of  incendiaries).  This  Jean-Frangois  had  seven 
children  :  (i)  Jean-Frangois,  found  guilty  of  sev- 
eral robberies,  died  in  prison ;  (2)  Benoist,  fell 
off  a  roof  which  he  had  scaled,  and  was  killed ; 
(3)  X ,  nicknamed  Clain,  found  guilty  of  sev- 
eral  robberies,   died   at   the    age   of    twenty-five ; 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE  AND   CRIME 


183 


(4)  Marie-Reine,  died  in  prison,  whither  she  had 
been  sent  for  theft ;  (5)  Marie-Rose,  same  fate, 
same  deeds ;  (6)  Victor,  now  in  jail  for  theft ;  (7) 
Victorine,  married  one  Lemaire  ;  their  son  was 
condemned  to  death  for  murder  and  robbery." 
Ribot  adds:  "We  have  given  this  instance 
because  it  cuts  short  all  explanations  drawn 
from  the  influence  of  education  and  example. 
Doubtless  it  is  difficult  in  many  cases  to 
determine  what  is  due  to  education,  and  what 
to  nature ;  and  the  children  of  thieves  are  not 
very  likely  to  be  trained  to  honesty  by  their 
parents ;  but  still  nature  is  always  the  stronger 
agency."  ^ 

The  studies  of  Mr.  Dugdale  among  State-prison 
convicts  in  New  York  State  reveal  some  start- 
ling facts.  They  show  the  part  played,  both  by 
heredity  and  environment,  in  the  production  of 
criminals.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-three  cases 
were  examined,  and  the  examination  so  far  veri- 
fied as  to  be  considered  reliable.  Of  this  number, 
23.03  per  cent  were  of  neurotic  stock.  By  neu- 
rotic stock  is  meant  "those  who  are  descended 
from,  related  to  by  blood,  or  are  themselves 
either  idiotic,  insane,  epileptic,  paralytic,  or  other- 

^  Ribot,  Heredity,  p.  91. 


1 84 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


wise  nervously  disordered."  Forty  and  seventy- 
seven  hundredths  per  cent,  were  orphans;  46.78 
per  cent,  had  been  neglected  in  childhood ;  75.63 
per  cent,  were  habitual  criminals  ;  22.74  P^r  cent, 
were  House  of  Refuge  boys;  17.16  per  cent,  were 
of  criminal  families  ;  22.31  per  cent,  were  of  pauper 
stock  ;  42.49  per  cent,  were  of  intemperate  family; 
35.05  per  cent,  were  habitual  drunkards ;  and 
79.41  per  cent,  were  without  trade.  Of  the  two 
hundred  and  thirty-three  examined,  the  figures 
show  that  nearly  one  in  every  four  was  born 
of  nervously  disordered  parentage.  Mr.  Dugdale 
says:  "This  close  relationship  between  nervous 
disorders  and  crime  runs  parallel  with  the  expe- 
rience of  England,  where  '  the  ratio  of  insane  to 
sane  criminals  is  thirty-four  times  as  great  as 
the  ratio  of  lunatics  to  the  whole  population  of 
England  ;  or,  if  we  take  half  the  population 
to  represent  the  adults  which  supply  the  con- 
vict prisons  we  shall  have  the  criminal  lunatics 
in  excess  in  the  high  proportion  of  seventeen 
to  one.'"^  "It  has  been  said  that  'whatever 
is  physiologically  right  is  morally  right,'  and 
here  we  have  a  confirmation  of  that  saying  by 
its  converse,  that  whatever  is  physiologically  un- 

^  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  revised  edition,  p.  86. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE   AND   CRIME  jgc 

sound  is  morally  rotten  ;  for  we  find  that  murder, 
rape,  and  arson  —  crimes  which  arouse  our  abhor- 
rence and  indignation  the  most,  for  which  the 
law  awards  the  most  severe  penalties,  and  which 
all  men  in  all  nations  are  agreed  to  look  upon  as 
unpardonable  —  are  perpetrated  by  a  class  of  men 
whose  probable  capacity  for  self-government  is 
twice  and  a  half  less  than  that  of  criminals  who 
prey  upon  property,  and  whose  probable  mental 
unsoundness  is  thirty-four  times  greater  than  that 
of  the  average  community."  ^ 

About  forty-three  per  cent,  of  the  criminals 
examined  were  of  intemperate  family,  as  were 
fifty-one  per  cent,  of  the  House  of  Refuge  boys. 
We  find  that  79.41  per  cent,  never  learned  a 
trade,  and  presumptively  were  in  the  condition 
of  those  for  whom  Satan  finds  mischief. 

Failure  to  learn  a  trade  is  chargeable  usually 
to  the  parents,  and  doubtless  the  indifference  to, 
or  aversion  for,  sustained  industry  indicated  by 
that  failure  was  a  part  of  their  legacy  to  their 
children.  A  terrible  fact  is  the  large  number  of 
House  of  Refuge  boys  found  in  the  prisons,  — 
nearly  twenty-three  per  cent,  of  all  the  convicts 
examined.     Of  that  number  ninety-eight  per  cent. 

1  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  revised  edition,  p.  87. 


1 86  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

were  habitual  criminals.  These  figures  go  far  to 
support  Mr.  Dugdale's  statement  that  Houses  of 
Refuge  are  the  "  nurseries,  not  the  reformatories, 
of  crime."  ^  Concerning  diseases  among  crim- 
inals, Dr.  Bruce  Thompson  says  :  "  In  all  my 
experience  I  have  never  seen  such  an  accumula- 
tion of  morbid  appearances  as  I  witness  in  the 
post-mortem  examinations  of  the  prisoners  who  die 
here.  Scarcely  one  of  them  can  be  said  to  die  of 
one  disease,  for  almost  every  organ  of  the  body  is 
more  or  less  diseased ;  and  the  wonder  to  me  is 
that  life  could  have  been  supported  in  such  a  dis- 
eased frame.  Their  moral  nature  seems  equally 
diseased  with  their  physical  frame ;  and  whilst 
their  mode  of  life  in  prison  reanimates  their 
physical  health,  I  doubt  whether  their  minds  are 
equally  benefited,  if  improved  at  all.  On  a  close 
acquaintance  with  criminals,  of  eighteen  years' 
standing,  I  consider  that  nine  in  ten  are  of 
inferior  intellect,  but  that  all  are  excessively 
cunning."  ^ 

But  figures  and  testimonies  are  scarcely  needed 
to  prove  that  a  criminal  ancestry,  especially 
when  reinforced  by  criminal  environment,  will 
surely    lead    to    crime     and     degeneration.      To 

1  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  revised  edition,  p.  vii, 

2  Quoted  in  The  Jukes,  Dugdale,  p.  95. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE   AND   CRIME  187 

expect  otherwise  would  be  to  look  for  the 
reversal  of  the  law  that  what  is  sown  will  be 
reaped.  Ancestry  determines  tendency ;  actual- 
ity is  usually  a  product  of  heritage  and  surround- 
ing. When  both  are  criminal,  the  probabilities 
are  overwhelming  that  the  offspring  will  be 
criminal. 

Before  there  can  be  progress  toward  the 
removal  of  intemperance  or  crime,  there  must  be 
a  careful  study  of  the  causes  of  these  evils. 
Diagnosis  in  social  disease,  as  in  physical,  should 
precede  resort  to  remedies.  Until  recently,  there 
has  been  almost  total  neglect  of  what  have  been 
abundantly  shown  to  be  important  factors  in  the 
problem  of  reform.  "  Lend  a  Hand  "  contains  the 
following :  "  Dr.  Holmes  has  said,  '  The  patient 
may  almost  always  be  saved,  if  the  doctor  is  called 
in  time,  but  he  should  be  called  two  or  three 
hundred  years  before  the  patient  is  born.'  It  is 
not  quite  convenient  for  the  new  charity  of  to-day 
to  root  out  the  seeds  of  the  pauper  disease  found 
in  the  seventeenth  and  the  sixteenth  centuries, 
but  it  does  the  next  best  thing ;  it  seeks  to  cure 
the  pauperism  of  the  twentieth  and  succeeding 
centuries  by  shutting  up  the  pauper-factories  of 
to-day."  The  history  of  society's  dealing  with  the 
classes  mentioned  in  this  paper  is  mournful  read- 


iSS  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

ing.  Even  well-meant  attempts  at  philanthropy 
have  been  so  poorly  administered  that  they  have 
often  increased  rather  than  diminished  the  evils 
at  which  they  were  directed. 

Temperance-workers  have  wasted  their  energies 
in  agitation  for  laws  impossible  to  execute  in  large 
cities,  and  have  left  the  intemperate  in  unim- 
proved conditions  of  temptation  and  tendency. 
The  only  attempt  of  which  I  have  heard  at  a 
careful  study  of  the  relation  of  heredity  to  inebri- 
ety by  such  reforms  is  the  Bureau  of  Heredity 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  and  this  is  of  recent  date. 
Temperance  agitators  have  almost  uniformly 
ignored  the  duty  of  providing  something  better 
for  those  from  whom  an  evil  indulgence  is  taken. 
Inquiries  concerning  how  the  masses  live  ;  con- 
cerning sanitary  conditions,  and  their  relation  to 
the  virtue  and  vice  of  the  people ;  concerning  the 
causes  of  pauperism  and  crime,  have  seldom  been 
started  by  professional  agitators.  Law-makers 
have  done  perhaps  less.  Those  who  were  elected 
because  they  were  the  tools  of  criminal-makers 
have  devoted  their  hours  of  idleness  to  ignoring 
the  questions  which  were  to  be  decided  by  their 
votes. 

Others  have  gone  on  year  after  year  making 
laws  concerning  tramps,  and   tramps  have  multi- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   VICE  .\ND   CRIME  igg 

plied  in  spite  of  the  laws.  Laws  have  as  yet  not 
touched  the  heart  of  the  problems  which  are 
pressing  upon  us.  Social  theorists  have  done 
little  more. 

Single-tax  men  would  bring  the  millennium  by 
putting  all  taxes  on  land  ;  and  labour-reformers 
would  bring  a  better  day  by  a  revolution  in  the 
social  order.  Whatever  the  wisdom  or  folly  of 
these  schemes,  they  have  as  yet  scarcely  touched 
the  stern  conditions  of  increasing  degeneration. 
Until  the  movement  of  heredity  is  changed, 
physical  and  moral  deterioration  will  move  side 
by  side  in  ever-expanding  streams.  In  the  long 
run  no  reform  can  prevail  which  does  not  look 
toward  the  creation  of  a  sober,  clean,  and  law- 
abiding  stock.  If  a  temperance  revival  were  to 
result  in  all  the  inmates  of  a  tenement  house  of 
adult  years  signing  the  pledge,  and  even  if  the 
further  marvel  should  come  to  pass  that  they  keep 
it,  that  would  be  no  sure  ground  for  supposing 
that  the  children  born  during  the  years  of  their 
parents'  inebriety  will  continue  temperate.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  region  where  those  people 
lived  is  changed  ;  if  they  are  accustomed  to  virtue 
and  decency,  and  have  before  them  examples  of 
true  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  are  enabled  so 
to  live  that  home  is  a  blessed  fact  and  not  a  farce, 


IQO  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN    PROBLEMS 

it  will  make  comparatively  little  difference  whether 
or  not  the  pledge  is  taken.  In  other  words,  re- 
demption of  the  environment  is  the  indispensable 
condition  of  redemption  of  the  inhabitants.  Or- 
ganisms respond  to  their  environment.  Men  are 
like  their  surroundings.  If  reform,  in  any  of  the 
departments  considered  in  this  chapter,  is  ever  per- 
manent, it  will  be  as  a  result  of  such  influences 
brought  to  bear  on  society  as  shall  make  a  new 
and  better  environment,  and  consequently  a  better 
stock. 

The  practical  question  then  arises  as  to  how 
these  ends  may  be  realized.  Not  by  any  treat- 
ment of  the  vicious  and  criminal  classes  which 
fails  to  recognize,  and  to  hold  them  to  a  recogni- 
tion of,  freedom  and  responsibility.  No  doubt  the 
study  of  heredity  makes  faith  in  freedom  difficult. 
All  that  is  added  to  the  one  seems  to  be  sub- 
tracted from  the  other.  This,  we  have  seen,  is 
not  the  whole  truth,  however.  Freedom  is  real ; 
and  men  must  be  continually  confronted  with  it 
and  its  attendant  responsibility. 

Until  they  are  born  again,  if  men  think  they  are 
not  accountable,  they  will  follow  their  selfish  incli- 
nations ;  and  if  society  teaches  that  they  are  driven 
by  forces  over  which  they  have  no  control,  they 
will,  by  and  by,  turn  those  forces  on  society  to  its 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE  AND   CRIME  jqi 

ruin.  There  is  no  hope  for  the  man  who  has  no 
faith  in  his  possibiHties  and  his  responsibiUty.  If 
the  inner  testimony  to  freedom  is  discredited,  the 
last  bulwark  against  chaos  is  broken  down.  All 
forms  of  philosophical  thought  which  teach  that 
man  is  but  a  fortuitous  grouping  of  atoms,  or  which 
allow  that  even  heredity  can  fetter  the  will  with- 
out deranging  the  mind,  so  far  as  they  prevail,  sap 
the  foundations  of  improvement. 

Environment  may  be  bettered,  but  environment 
without  consciousness  of  freedom  and  responsi- 
i  bility  will  not  long  have  influence  over  a  man  of 
depraved  heredity.  It  is  precisely  because  it  is 
presumed  that  there  is  something  in  all  men,  how- 
ever degraded,  which  can  respond  to  better  things, 
that  better  things  are,  or  should  be,  provided.  A 
hog  in  a  palace  would  be  a  hog  to  its  death.  The 
splendour  would  make  no  impression  on  his  nature. 
But  a  "  Bridge-boy,"  a  character  so  well  known  in 
London,  in  the  same  place  would  be  transformed. 
There  is  something  in  him  to  which  appeal  can  be 
made.  Neither  heredity  nor  environment  destroys 
responsibility.  If  drunkards  were  treated  as  crim- 
inals, there  would  be  a  surprising  manifestation  of 
power  to  resist  temptation. 

But  inebriates  and  criminals  are  very  often 
unfortunates  as  well  as  wrong-doers ;  they  are  in 


IQ2  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

large  proportion  diseased,  and  should  be  treated 
pathologically  as  well  as  judicially.  This  work 
can  be  successful  only  when  based  on  a  true 
diagnosis,  that  is,  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
trouble  and  its  causes.  The  intemperance  which 
results  from  misery  will  be  cured  but  in  small 
measure  without  a  removal  of  the  misery.  If  this 
is  not  done,  and  alcohol  is  prohibited,  it  will  either 
be  obtained  surreptitiously  or  some  other  means 
of  vicious  indulgence  will  take  its  place,  and  the 
last  estate,  perchance,  be  worse  than  the  first. 
As  a  last  resort,  wretchedness  will  turn  to  suicide. 
Intemperance  caused  by  domestic  infelicity  will 
be  diminished,  not  so  much  by  "  Maine  laws " 
and  "moral  suasion,"  as  by  such  education,  and 
perhaps  restraint,  as  shall  make  ill-assorted  mar- 
riages less  frequent. 

Mendicancy  is  largely  the  natural  result  of 
intemperance  and  licentiousness.  Laws  against 
tramps  may  change  the  form  of  the  evil, — perhaps 
to  a  more  dangerous  form,  —  but  until  parents, 
and  their  children  after  them,  are  made  to  realize 
that  the  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
this  scourge  in  some  form  is  likely  to    continue. 

So  long  as  houses  of  refuge  and  prisons  are 
schools  of  crime,  it  is  vain  to  expect  any  large 
improvement  in  police  reports. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  VICE  AND   CRIME  1Q3 

One  fault  in  the  past  has  been  that  reform 
has  resided  too  largely  in  the  abstract.  Specific 
remedies  for  specific  evils  should  be  the  rule. 
Reformatory  effort  should  be  directed,  as  it  has 
signally  failed  to  be  directed  in  the  past,  toward 
the  production  of  pure  and  inspiring  environment, 
to  the  end  that  coming  generations,  if  not  our 
own,  may  reap  the  benefit  in  manlier  men  and 
more  womanly  women. 

Reform  along  the  lines  indicated  in  this  paper 
has  already  begun.  The  model  dwelling-houses 
in  London  and  in  New  York  are  hints  of  what 
is  possible  in  improving  one  part  of  the  environ- 
ment of  the  lowest  classes.  The  Children's  Aid 
Society,  already  mentioned,  with  its  nearly  one 
hundred  thousand  children  transported  from  city 
wickedness  to  the  comparative  moral  healthfulness 
of  the  country,  is  a  success  which  some  day  will 
be  still  better  appreciated  than  it  is  now.  Tem- 
perance workers  at  last  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  the  best  way  to  get  rid  of  the  tendency  to 
inebriety  is  to  crowd  it  out  with  something  good. 
The  most  hopeful  movement  in  the  temperance 
world  to-day,  among  the  lower  classes,  is  found 
in  the  English  coffee-houses  and  Te-to-tums. 
The  late  Dr.  Dale,  of  Birmingham,  in  1884  told 
me  that  the  chief  of  police  informed  him  that 
o 


194 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


crime  had  diminished  one-half  in  that  city  since 
the  coffee-houses  and  boys'  schools  were  opened. 
Standing:  within  a  short  distance  of  the  Seven 
Dials,  in  London,  in  the  same  year,  I  asked  a 
policeman  whether  crime  had  increased  or  de- 
creased in  his  precinct  in  recent  years.  "  In  ten 
years  it  has  decreased  fully  one-half,"  was  the 
reply.  "What  has  wrought  the  change  .'' "  "The 
coffee-houses  and  the  boys'  clubs."  In  other 
words,  even  in  the  slums  of  "the  toy-shop  of 
Europe,"  and  in  the  very  heart  of  London's 
wretchedness,  a  few  wise,  strong,  patient,  liberal 
men  and  women  have  worked  this  change  in  the 
criminal  records  by  opening  a  few  coffee-houses, 
schools,  and  improved  dwellings. 

Efforts  in  these  directions  should  be  multiplied. 
Movements  like  the  University  Colony  in  East 
London  and  the  University  Extension  System  of 
Lectures  should  be  started  in  all  our  cities,  and 
the  scholarship  and  refinement  of  Harvard  and 
Yale  and  Princeton  brought  into  helpful  sympathy 
with  the  Bowery  and  Water  Street. 

Already  we  have  our  Andover  House,  our  Hull 
House,  our  Whittier  House,  our  University  and 
College  Settlements,  our  University  Lectures,  our 
Fresh-air  Funds,  our  Association  of  East  Side 
Workers.     These  are  a  beginning  ;  but  they  must 


THE   PROBLEM   OP^   VICE   AND   CRIME  ig^ 

be  multiplied  a  hundredfold  before  the  tide  of 
vice  and  crime  will  ebb  materially. 

Wise  reform  will  not  fail  to  recognize  the  force 
of  heredity  whether  for  the  continuance  and  multi- 
plication of  human  ills,  or  for  their  diminution. 
It  will  do  but  little  good  to  work  for  individuals 
here  and  there.  Such  conditions  must  be  created 
as  will  redeem  the  human  life-stream  itself.  It 
may  be  that  the  greatness  of  this  task  will  stagger 
the  thought  and  shake  the  courage  of  some.  It 
is  scarcely  to  be  denied  that  the  study  of  human 
nature  as  conditioned  by  heredity  and  environ- 
ment is  depressing  in  its  initial  stages.  It  makes 
humanity  seem  like  clay  in  the  hands  of  an  in- 
exorable and  remorseless  potter ;  but  it  will  save 
an  immense  waste  of  time,  effort,  and  means,  and, 
by  and  by,  the  depression  will  change  to  hope,  as 
it  is  seen  that  the  same  law  that  necessitates 
degeneration  under  certain  conditions,  under  other 
conditions  works  regeneration  ;  and  the  hope  will 
change  to  inspiration  when  it  is  realized  that  even 
the  means  which  are  in  the  feeblest  hands  may 
make  beneficent,  and  full  of  blessing,  that  which 
before  has  seemed  only  a  curse. 

One  fact,  at  least,  can  scarcely  be  questioned 
any  longer :  reform  must  be  along  positive  rather 
than   negative    lines.     The   intemperate   must  be 


196 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


given  something  better  than  liquor ;  the  pauper 
something  that  will  stimulate,  without  exhausting, 
his  feeble  vitality  ;  the  criminal  some  nobler  object 
for  his  ambition  and  his  energies  than  that  which 
he  is  now  seeking. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  SIN  AND  THE  RACE 

In  one  of  George  W.  Cable's  stories  of  old 
Creole  days  in  New  Orleans  occurs  the  descrip- 
tion of  a  sermon,  from  which  I  make  the  following 
extract:  "My  friends,"  he  said,  —  this  was  near 
the  beginning,  —  "the  angry  words  of  God's  Book 
are  very  merciful  —  they  are  meant  to  drive  us 
home ;  but  the  tender  words,  my  friends,  they  are 
sometimes  terrible !  Notice  these,  the  tender- 
est  words  of  the  tenderest  prayer  that  ever  came 
from  the  lips  of  a  blessed  martyr  —  the  dying 
words  of  the  holy  St.  Stephen  :  *  Lord,  lay  not 
this  sin  to  their  charge.'  Is  there  nothing  dread- 
ful in  that  ?  Read  it  thus :  '  Lord,  lay  not  this 
sin  to  their  charge.'  Not  to  the  charge  of  those 
who  stoned  them }  To  whose  charge  then  .-*  Go 
ask  the  holy  St.  Paul.  Three  years  afterward, 
praying  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  he  answered 
that  question :  '  I  stood  by  and  consented.'  He 
answered  for  himself  only ;  but  the  day  must 
come  when  all  that  wicked  council  that  sent  St. 
Stephen  away  to  be  stoned,  and  all  that  city  of 

197 


198 


HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


Jerusalem,  must  hold  up  the  hand  and  say :  '  We, 
also,  Lord  ;  we  stood  by.'  Ah  !  friends,  under  the 
simpler  meaning  of  that  dying  saint's  prayer  for  the 
pardon  of  his  murderers  is  hidden  the  terrible  truth 
that  we  shall  all  have  a  share  in  07te  another's  sins." 

Again  he  says  :  "  Ah  !  if  it  v/ere  merely  my  own 
sins  that  I  had  to  answer  for,  I  might  hold  up  my 
head  before  the  rest  of  mankind  ;  but  no,  no,  my 
friends,  we  cannot  look  each  other  in  the  face,  for 
each  has  helped  the  other  to  sin.  Oh,  where  is 
there  any  room  in  this  world  of  common  disgrace 
for  pride .-'  Even  if  we  had  no  common  hope,  a 
common  despair  ought  to  bind  us  together  and 
forever  silence  the  voice  of  scorn." 

This  extract  from  an  imaginary  sermon  is  a 
vivid  illustration  of  the  familiar  truth:  No  man 
liveth  to  himself.  We  share  in  one  another's 
sins.  In  a  certain  real  sense  there  is  no  crime 
committed  by  an  individual  in  which  all  the  rest 
of  the  community  are  not  participants.  Nothing 
seems  more  absurd  at  first  thought  than  to  say 
that  pure  and  noble  men  have  part  in  murders, 
adulteries,  and  robberies.  They  make  laws  to 
prevent  such  crimes.  Nothing  could  be  more 
repulsive  than  complicity  with  what  they  hate  ; 
and  yet,  far  more  than  most  dream,  men  in 
general  are  partners  in  the  transgressor's  guilt. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND  THE   RACE  iqq 

No  man  is  entirely  a  new  creation.  Each 
comes  into  the  world  marked  by  the  peculiari- 
ties of  his  time,  his  condition,  and  his  parents. 
Each  man  is  the  product  of  his  ancestry,  modi- 
fied or  intensified  by  his  surroundings.  The 
time  and  circumstances  of  his  birth,  and  all  his 
natural  faculties,  are  determined  before  he  was 
born.  Each  individual  has  the  tools  given  to 
him  with  which  he  must  do  his  work.  He 
cannot  choose  for  himself  what  shall  be  the 
size  of  his  brain,  what  shall  be  his  temperament, 
what  things  he  shall  like  or  dislike,  whether  he 
shall  be  quick-tempered  or  phlegmatic,  whether 
he  shall  be  artistic  or  prosaic. 

Each  has  to  take  what  is  given,  —  his  vital 
heritage,  whatever  its  shortcomings,  whatever 
its  bias, — and  do  the  best  he  can  with  it.  In- 
heritance reaches  far  back  and  to  many  people ; 
and  by  it  come  tendencies  to  certain  sins.  As 
tendencies  to  rheumatism  and  epilepsy  run  in 
families,  so  also  in  clearly  defined  lines  do  ten- 
dencies to  intemperance,  pauperism,  and  various 
crimes.  It  has  been  proved  that  most  of  those 
whom  we  ostracize  as  tramps  are  physically  dis- 
eased, not  enough  to  destroy  responsibility,  but 
enough  to  make  exertion  more  burdensome  to 
them  than  to  others. 


200  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

Specialists  are  agreed  in  declaring  that  inebri- 
ety, though  the  result  of  vice,  is  a  disease,  with 
clearly  defined  symptoms,  and  that  it  is  often  the 
result  of  inherited  tendencies.  Every  one  knows 
that  a  man  who  inherits  a  taste  for  liquor  is  in 
far  greater  peril  than  the  children  of  the  tem- 
perate. A  distinguished  clergyman  once  said 
that  he  did .  not  dare  to  taste  wine,  because  he 
had  a  natural  taste  for  liquor,  handed  down  by  a 
long  line  of  cider-drinking  ancestors.  Men  are 
born  with  tendencies  to  certain  forms  of  sin 
which  make  it  easy  to  yield  to  temptation  and 
hard  to  resist.  Now,  he  who  transmits  to  a  de- 
scendant a  tendency  which  makes  sin  easy  is  a 
partner  with  that  descendant  in  his  guilt. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  factor  of  environ- 
ment, of  the  action  of  which  I  shall  speak  pres- 
ently, the  subject  becomes  complicated.  Men  are 
not  only  what  heredity  has  made  them,  but  the 
very  fibre  of  their  natures  is  affected  by  their 
surroundings ;  and  the  impressions  thus  made, 
be  they  invigorating  or  debilitating,  uplifting  or 
degrading,  are  transmitted  to  their  offspring. 
Hence,  if  in  our  time  we  help  to  produce  condi- 
tions which  make  it  easy  for  a  man  to  do  wrong, 
and  he  yields  to  the  temptation,  and  by  his  fall 
his  nature  is  changed  so   that  his  children  come 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND   THE   RACE         20I 

into  being  diseased  morally  and  physically,  then, 
when  the  child  does  wrong  not  only  is  he  to  be 
blamed,  but  the  father  who  did  wrong  before  him, 
and  those  who  made  circumstances  which  led  the 
father  into  sin.  Thus  the  line  of  responsibility 
runs  backward,  and  stops  —  who  can  tell  where? 
If  each  person  came  into  existence  perfectly  wise, 
with  a  strong  will,  and  with  no  tendencies  toward 
either  good  or  evil ;  and  if  each  could  choose 
just  when  and  where  he  would  first  see  the  light, 
and  who  would  train  him,  even  then  it  could  not 
be  said  that  every  man  is  responsible  for  himself 
alone,  and  no  man  for  another ;  but  all  would  be 
far  more  nearly  independent  than  at  present.  If 
a  young  man  born  of  respectable  and  sober 
parents  comes  into  a  city  environment,  is  thrown 
into  the  company  of  the  intemperate  and  vile, 
and  after  a  while,  though  formerly  averse  to  evil, 
becomes  vicious,  that  young  man  is  blameworthy 
for  yielding,  but  he  shares  his  guilt  with  his 
tempters  and  with  those  who  suffered  the  con- 
ditions to  exist  which  made  his  fall,  if  not  im- 
perative, at  least  probable.  If,  now,  in  the  course 
of  years,  he  continues  in  evil  ways,  and  has  a 
family  of  his  own,  they  will  see  the  light  not  in 
the  clear  day  of  his  childhood,  but  with  their  eyes 
dimmed  and  their  powers  weakened  by  his  vices. 


202  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

Those  children,  with  weaker  wills,  and  stronger 
tendencies  than  he  had  originally  to  intemperance 
and  other  vices,  have  to  face  the  same  tempta- 
tions. Manifestly  they  will  fall  far  more  easily, 
unless  new  and  spiritually  healthful  forces  super- 
vene. When  one  of  them  in  intoxication  is  borne 
from  the  gin  palace,  who  are  to  be  held  culpable 
for  his  downfall  ?  He  himself,  because  he  did 
not  use  the  will  he  had.  His  parents,  because 
they  indulged  in  courses  which  brought  him  into 
the  world  morally  and  physically  infirm  ;  those  also, 
certainly,  who  first  led  his  parents  into  wrong  ; 
and  those,  too,  who  consent  that  the  deadly  forces 
of  degeneration  shall  continue  to  work.  Thus 
disregard  of  physical  and  moral  law,  the  con- 
sequences of  which  are  hardly  seen  at  first,  in 
following  generations  blossoms  into  vice  and  vio- 
lence. The  unity  of  the  race  is  terribly  real. 
Diseases  that  no  facts  in  the  individual  life  can 
account  for  point  gaunt  fingers  of  blame  from  one 
generation  to  another.  Not  a  murderer  is  hung, 
not  a  daughter  starts  on  the  downward  way,  but 
a  great  company,  like  those  who  were  present  at 
the  stoning  of  Stephen,  stand  by  consenting  to 
the  ruin.  This  is  what  gives  point  to  the 
appeals  of  those  who  plead  for  purity,  for  tem- 
perance, for  the  observance  of  the  laws  of  health ; 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  SIN  AND  THE   RACE         203 

for  no  misstep  and  no  crime,  unless  counteracted, 
fails  in  som^  way  to  send  its  blight  down  the 
generations. 

Society  is  responsible  for  a  vicious,  sin-gener- 
ating environment  in  other  ways,  however,  than 
that  of  consent.  The  sins  of  the  individual  be- 
long also  to  society,  because  public  sentiment  is 
the  ordinary  arbiter  of  what  constitutes  right  and 
wrong.  In  one  set  of  circumstances  the  heroic 
virtues,  such  as  courage,  endurance,  and  the  like, 
are  honoured.  A  man  is  helped  to  be  brave  and 
honourable  by  the  conversation  he  hears  and  the 
books  within  his  reach.  If  public  sentiment 
brands  a  coward  as  infamous,  few  will  turn  from 
the  face  of  an  enemy.  Not  many  are  heroes  in 
their  own  strength  alone.  Heroism  is  a  cord  of 
many  strands ;  in  it  are  woven  individual  will, 
tendencies  from  the  past,  the  influence  of  exam- 
ple, and  the  consciousness  of  how  others  will 
regard  actions.  A  noble  character  is  the  result 
of  many  causes.  It  is  stimulated  by  applause, 
and  encouraged  by  lofty  ideals.  If  a  man  is 
situated  where  little  value  is  placed  on  life,  where 
the  appeal  to  the  sword  or  pistol  is  instantaneous 
and  legitimate,  he  who  shoots  another  is  not  a 
lonely  criminal.  He  is  an  exponent  of  the  crimi- 
nality in  which  he  lives.     A  person  born  in  the 


204  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

splendid  court  of  Louis  XIV.  could  not  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  have  the  same  thought  about 
purity  and  love  as  one  trained  under  the  influence 
of  fine  domestic  and  social  ideals.  To  go  astray- 
then  was  the  rule,  and  society  shared  the  guilt  of 
the  wrong-doers. 

I  do  not  excuse  those  who  in  the  free  exercise 
of  their  wills  —  and  all  have  some  freedom  — 
have  chosen  to  do  wrong ;  but  surely,  in  such 
circumstances,  no  man  is  solitary  in  his  guilt.  If 
it  is  the  custom  of  society  to  excuse  moral  delin- 
quencies, then  those  who  are  morally  weak  will 
find  that  custom  behind  them  pushing  them 
toward  the  evil  from  which  they  naturally  shrink. 
All  who  help  to  make  the  sentiment  that  speaks 
lightly  of  evil  participate  in  the  guilt  of  those  who 
fall.  He  who  leads  the  suicide  to  the  precipice 
shares  the  guilt  of  his  self-destruction.  Mr.  Cable, 
in  the  imaginary  sermon  from  which  I  have  quoted, 
uses  the  following  illustration:  "I  once  knew  a 
man  who  was  carefully  taught  from  infancy  to 
manhood  this  single  only  principle  of  life  —  de- 
fiance. Not  justice,  not  righteousness,  not  even 
gain,  but  defiance,  defiance  to  God,  defiance  to 
man,  defiance  to  nature,  defiance  to  reason,  de- 
fiance and  defiance  and  defiance.  This  man  be- 
came a  smuggler,  and  at  last  a  pirate  in  the  Gulf 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND   THE   RACE         20$ 

of  Mexico.     (Lord,  lay  not  that  sin  to  his  charge 
alone.)     But  a  strange  thing  followed. 

"Being  in  command  of  men  of  a  sort  that  re- 
quired to  be  kept  at  the  austerest  distance,  he 
now  found  himself  separated  from  the  human 
world,  and  thrown  into  solemn  companionship 
with  the  sea,  with  the  air,  with  the  storm,  with 
the  calm,  the  heavens  by  day,  the  heavens  by 
night.  My  friends,  that  was  the  first  time  in  his 
life  he  ever  found  himself  in  really  good  company. 
.  ,  .  That  man,  looking  out  night  after  night  upon 
the  grand  and  holy  spectacle  of  the  starry  deep 
above  and  the  watery  deep  below,  was  sure  to  find 
himself  sooner  or  later  mastered  by  the  convic- 
tion that  the  great  Author  of  this  majestic  crea- 
tion keeps  account  of  it ;  and  one  night  there 
came  to  him,  like  a  spirit  walking  on  the  sea,  the 
awful  silent  question  :  My  account  with  God,  how 
does  it  stand  .-•  Ah,  friends,  this  is  a  question 
which  the  book  of  nature  does  not  answer.  Did 
I  say  the  book  of  nature  is  a  catechism  ?  Yes. 
But  after  it  answers  the  first  question  with  God, 
nothing  but  questions  follow.  And  so  one  day 
this  man  gave  a  ship  full  of  merchandise  for  one 
little  book  which  answered  these  questions.  God 
help  him  to  understand  it !  And  God  help  you. 
Monsieur,  and  you,  Madame,  sitting  here  in  your 


2o6  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

smuggled  clothes,  to  beat  upon  the  breast  with 
me,  and  cry,  '  I,  too,  Lord,  I,  too,  stood  by  and 
consented.'  "^ 

The  priest  in  the  story  wished  to  show  that 
those  who  made  smuggling  lucrative  were  guilty 
with  the  pirate,  and  he  was  right. 

And  it  is  equally  true  that  all  who  help  in 
any  way  to  make  dishonesty  profitable,  and  the 
law  of  chastity  to  be  held  in  light  esteem,  are 
making  it  easier  for  frail  ones  to  fall.  The  safety 
of  the  weak  is  in  a  strong  public  sentiment 
which  brands  iniquity  as  infamous,  and  calls 
crimes  by  their  right  names.  Those  who  help 
to  make  the  public  sentiment,  if  that  sentiment 
condones  sin,  are  partners  in  guilt  with  those 
who  transgress  the  moral  order. 

The  strong  should  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak.  There  are  multitudes  who  do  little  think- 
ing for  themselves  ;  to  whom  what  society  allows 
is  right,  and  what  it  condemns  is  wrong.  It 
may  be  said  that  each  should  use  his  own  judg- 
ment and  will.  Suppose  he  does,  but  uses  them 
where  the  prevailing  ideals  are  false  and  examples 
are  evil  and  misleading,  is  there  no  allowance 
to  be  made  for  his  errors  ?     Those   are   culpable 

1  Old  Creole  Days,  Cable,  Vol.  I.  p.  22. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND   THE  RACE         207 

who  fail  to  exercise  their  own  powers  conscien- 
tiously, but  not  more  so  than  those  who  see 
more  clearly  and  act  more  decidedly,  and  yet 
fail  to  hold  up  high,  true  standards  and  show 
worthy  examples.  With  the  increase  of  civili- 
zation and  wealth  in  our  land  there  is  a  grow- 
ing tendency  to  tolerate  evil  if  it  is  garbed 
in  fine  clothes.  But  vice  in  high  places,  even 
more  than  in  the  lower  strata  of  society,  stimu- 
lates vice.  Exaltation  is  no  excuse  for  wicked- 
ness. By  as  much  as  a  man  has  great  ability, 
lofty  position,  or  any  gift  which  can  lead  or 
mislead  others,  he  is  under  bonds  to  be  good 
and  do  good.  The  example  of  a  lecherous  prince 
blinds  the  eyes  of  those  who  have  no  very  clear 
conviction  as  to  the  essential  glory  of  chastity. 
If  gambling  is  common  among  the  rich,  the 
poor  will  take  to  it  without  compunction.  If 
an  author  haloes  illicit  relations  with  the  touch 
of  genius,  the  young  who  are  dazzled  by  his 
greatness  will  copy  the  vices  he  fails  to  con- 
demn more  than  the  virtues  he  holds  up  for 
admiration. 

It  is  through  this  force  of  influence  that  some 
of  the  most  eminent  personages  in  history  have 
wrought  immeasurable  evil.  If  the  rich  dress 
as  well  as   they  can    afford,  the   poor   will   dress 


2o8  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

better  than  they  can  afford.  If  the  millionaire 
sips  his  wine,  the  hod-carrier  will  insist  on  his 
whiskey.  It  may  be  said  that  the  fact  that  one 
does  what  in  itself  is  not  harmful  to  him,  is  no 
reason  why  he  should  be  classed  as  a  partner  in 
blame  with  those  who  do  what  is  harmful  for  them. 
If  all  were  equally  strong  that  might  be  true,  but 
there  are  many  gradations  in  humanity,  and  the 
higher  attract  tl:e  lower  as  naturally  as  the 
moon  the  tides.  No  man  can  keep  his  influence 
to  himself.  Public  opinion  determines  what 
people  try  to  do.  If  it  honours  only  those 
things  which  are  safe  and  healthful,  no  one  in 
following  it  will  be  led  to  evil ;  if  it  popularizes 
what  one-half  the  world  can  enjoy  only  at  its 
peril,  then  those  who  make  the  public  sentiment 
are  responsible  for  the  peril  in  which  half  the 
world  finds  itself. 

One  whom  I  was  once  trying  to  lift  to  a 
higher  and  better  life  answered  my  appeal  with 
this  single,  sad  sentence,  in  which  seemed  con- 
densed the  plaint  of  many  sighs  and  the  falling 
of  many  tears,  "  Oh,  I  am  so  weak ! "  which 
meant,  not  only  that,  but  also  this  unuttered  but 
still  evident  thought,  "and  there  are  so  many 
to  take  advantage  of  my  weakness."  If  the  tem- 
perate allow  places  where  allurements  to  evil  are 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND   THE   R.A.CE         2OQ 

constantly  open  to  the  weak,  if  they  do  not  do 
all  they  can  to  make  it  impossible  for  any  to  get 
pleasure  or  gain  by  the  degradation  of  their  fel- 
low-men, their  very  neglect  is  in  part  the  cause 
of  the  moral  ruin  of  all  who  enter  those  gates 
of  death,  and  they  are  in  a  real  sense  partners 
in  guilt  with  those  who  fall.  If  by  our  careless- 
ness or  love  of  ease  we  allow  vice  to  flaunt  it- 
self and  crime  to  go  unpunished,  so  that  others 
are  ruined,  we  cannot  escape  our  measure  of 
condemnation.  If  our  influence  is  not  all  in 
favour  of  high  moral  standards,  we  help  to  de- 
stroy morality.  If  we  honour  those  who  are  vile, 
we  help  others  on  the  downward  path.  If  the 
cultured  palliate  vice  in  those  who  are  eminent, 
they  practically  say  that  moral  character  is  not 
imperative.  The  mass  of  men  are  not  astute 
enough  to  understand  why  vice  should  be  con- 
doned in  Burns  and  Goethe  and  condemned  in 
carpenters  and  clerks.  Influence  is  a  very  sub- 
tle but  a  very  real  force.  It  is  like  a  stream 
of  pure  water.  If  kept  pure,  it  carries  health 
and  blessing  everywhere.  If  fouled,  it  breeds 
disease  and  death  ;  and  all  who  contaminate  it 
even  in  the  slightest,  or  who  do  not  use  their 
ability  to  preserve  its  purity,  are  more  or  less 
responsible  for  its  deadly  effects. 


210  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

I  have  thus  tried  to  show  how  the  race  sins  in 
the  individual.  Men  transmit  tendencies  to  evil 
to  their  descendants  ;  those  tendencies  result  in 
open  sin,  and  those  who  start  the  evil  are  not 
free  from  the  blood  of  those  who  fall.  Public 
sentiment  looks  leniently  on  crimes,  and  speaks 
sneeringly  of  virtues,  and  thus  the  weak,  who 
seldom  make  fine  discriminations,  are  encouraged 
in  vicious  courses. 

Those  who  give  the  heredity,  and  those  who 
make  the  sentiment,  are  sometimes  more  culpable 
than  those  whose  overt  acts  of  wrong  they  abhor; 
for  they  sin  against  greater  light  and  with  larger 
ability  to  resist. 

Nothing  in  this  chapter  must  be  understood  as 
denying  the  ability  of  any  to  choose  the  good 
when  once  it  is  presented. 

The  problem  of  inheritance  versus  free  will  is 
full  of  mystery,  but  of  one  thing  we  are  sure,  and 
on  it  we  must  rest,  —  we  all  may  choose  the  right. 
Every  one  has  some  freedom  ;  none  are  utterly 
driven  to  sin ;  all  who  have  done  wrong  are 
conscious  of  their  wrong ;  none  are  altogether 
able  to  excuse  their  guilt.  But  the  crimes  of 
some  are  not  so  black  as  they  seem  to  us  at  first; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  large  classes  of  respect- 
able people  are  not  so  guiltless  as  they  seem,  are 


THE  PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND   THE   RACE         2II 

silent  partners,  in  fact,  in  works  of  destruction. 
Tiiis  view  of  life  is  not  popular.  Especially  do 
those  who  preach  a  religion  of  culture  fail  to 
recognize  it. 

The  tendency  of  the  higher  education,  where 
the  responsibility  of  service  is  not  emphasized, 
is  to  separate  classes ;  to  cause  the  educated  to 
withdraw  themselves  from  unpleasant  and  dis- 
couraging conditions.  It  is  much  more  delightful 
to  converse  with  congenial  friends  than  to  do 
the  work  requisite  for  honest  politics,  to  labour 
for  the  enactment  of  wise  laws,  and  to  insist  on 
their  execution  ;  but  if,  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
cultured  classes  from  the  responsibilities  of  citi- 
zens, evil  conditions  become  common,  then  those 
who  thus  escape  from  turmoil  and  strife  become 
accessories  to  the  crimes  they  might  have  pre- 
vented. He  who  sees  a  ship  going  on  the  rocks 
and  sounds  no  warning  is  scarcely  less  guilty  than 
he  who  turns  its  prow  toward  the  breakers.  A 
saloon  is  allowed  to  work  ruin,  because  men  who 
might  cause  its  removal  never  try  to  do  so :  a 
young  man  is  enticed  into  that  place  and  induced 
to  drink ;  under  the  influence  of  that  drink  he 
kills  a  comrade.  Who  is  the  murderer.?  The 
man  who  fired  the  shot.  Certainly,  but  also  his 
tempters,  and,  in  a  degree,  those  who  might  have 


212  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

closed  that  place  of  temptation,  and  have  neg- 
lected to  do  so. 

The  solidarity  of  the  race  is  a  terrible  but 
evident  reality.  All  are  of  one  blood.  If  the 
<  ommon  life  is  polluted  by  the  vice  of  any  single 
individual,  then  the  lot  of  all  others  is  harder ; 
and  their  tendencies  to  evil  are  stronger.  But 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  any  man  rises  to  a  loftier 
and  purer  manhooa  than  his  parents  or  his  neigh- 
bours, he  does  his  part  not  only  in  purifying  him- 
self but  also  in  ameliorating  society  and  improving 
the  race. 

These  facts  should  make  all  lenient  in  their 
judgments  of  their  fellow-men,  and  especially 
careful  about  punishment.  Who  should  be  pun- 
ished, the  one  that  applied  the  fuse,  or  the  one 
that  laid  the  train  .-• 

No  man  liveth  to  himself.  The  individual's 
sin  is  his  own,  and  yet  it  belongs  to  the  race 
also.  Equally  the  virtue  of  the  individual  is  not 
his  own  alone  ;  it  also  is  a  product  into  which 
have  gone  the  toils,  tears,  sacrifices,  prayers  of 
millions  who  never  heard  his  name. 

This  study  brings  to  light  one  thought  which 
in  our  time  is  having  wide  recognition,  and  that 
is,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  social,  as  well  as  an  in- 
dividual.  Saviour.     His   mission  is  to  states  and 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   SIN   AND   THE   RACE         213 

institutions  as  truly  as  to  individuals.  Hence 
He  organized  a  kingdom,  that  is,  a  new  social 
order;  and  that  kingdom  is  advanced  by  the 
conversion  of  men,  but  also  by  the  gradual  rais- 
ing of  ideals,  by  the  improving  of  social  customs, 
by  the  transforming  of  states. 

Our  Master  has  relations  to  individuals  ;  but 
the  race  belongs  to  Him  also,  and  He  is  influenc- 
ing it,  lifting  it  to  better  things,  and  slowly  but 
surely  creating  a  new,  unselfish,  and  redeemed 
society. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE    PROBLEM    OF    FAITH 

The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  consider  the 
relation  of  natural  causes  to  some  subjects  in  the 
sphere  of  religion.  It  is  taken  for  granted  in 
many  quarters  that  a  man  can  determine  his  re- 
ligious faith  as  easily  as,  with  a  table  of  luxuries 
before  him,  he  can  decide  what  he  will  eat  and 
drink.  A  more  careful  study  of  human  life,  how- 
ever, shows  that  it  is  strictly  true  that  no  act  is  un- 
related, not  even  that  of  recognition  of  the  truth ; 
but  that  every  act,  every  volition,  every  thought, 
has  connection  in  one  way  or  another  with  the 
whole  man.  A  long  line  of  associated  facts  re- 
quiring consideration  lies  behind  every  rational  con- 
cept and  every  act  of  faith.  In  the  last  analysis, 
a  man's  religious  faith  is  an  expression  of  what_  he 
is ;  as  Emerson  says,  he  "  bears  beliefs  as  a  tree 
bears  apples."  ^  The  common  thought  has  been 
exactly  the  reverse.  We  have  been  accustomed  to 
say  that  a  man  is  what  his  faith  is.  That  is,  in- 
deed, one  aspect  of  the  truth,  but  the  other  aspect, 

^  Essay  on  Worship. 
214 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  21? 

that  what  a  man  is  will  determine  what  his  faith 
will  be,  is  quite  as  real.  The  statements  of  the 
Scriptures  are  in  harmony  with  this  teaching. 
"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart:  for  they  shall  see 
God."  The  other  text,  as  a  man  "  thinketh  in  his 
heart,  so  is  he,"  cannot  be  quoted  in  reply,  for  the 
real  meaning  of  it  is  that  the  internal  state,  not  the 
outward  seeming,  is  the  real  thing  about  every 
man.  Before  we  can  answer  the  question.  What 
should  a  man  believe  ?  we  must  be  able  to  answer 
the  other  question,  What  can  he  and  what  must  he 
believe  ?  Few  truths  can  be  considered  purely  in 
the  abstract ;  the  personal  factor  is  always  present, 
giving  colour  to  the  truth  according  to  the  nature 
of  him  who  views  it.  The  difference  may  not  be 
great,  but  as  there  is  something  individual  in  each 
man,  so  there  is  always  something  individual  in 
his  way  of  seeing  and  interpreting  the  truths  pre- 
sented to  him.  It  is  inevitable,  therefore,  that  to 
a  considerable  degree  a  man's  theological  beliefs 
should  be  according  to  his  intellectual  and  moral 
heritage  and  the  circumstances  in  which  he  lives. 
As  the  will  is  the  man  willing,  so  belief  is  the  man 
believing.  This  is  not  to  deny  that  truth  has  an 
objective  existence,  but  to  affirm  that  objective 
truth  will  be  perceived  by  the  individual  in  propor- 
tion to  the  clearness  of  his  spiritual  sight  and  the 


2i6  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

quickness  of  his  mental  operations,  and  also  ac- 
cording as  intellect  or  emotion  be  predominant  in 
his  constitution.  Therefore  we  are  brought  to  the 
conviction  that :  — 

Heredity  and  environment  have  much  to  do  in 
determining  the  moral  and  theological  bias  of 
every  man.  Within  limits,  both  a  man's  creed  and 
his  character  are  influenced  by  his  ancestry  and 
by  his  surroundings.  This  influence  is  not  abso- 
lute determinism,  and  does  not  preclude  responsi- 
bility ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  regard  the  moral 
life  as  any  less  related  to  the  past,  or  any  less 
susceptible  to  atmospheres  of  good  or  evil,  than 
the  physical  life.  It  is  as  true  that  men  think  like 
their  fathers  as  that  they  look  like  them.  It  is 
as  unnatural  for  some  to  be  religious  as  it  is  nat- 
ural for  others.  Every  year  a  man  lives,  every 
year  his  ancestors  lived,  and  the  conditions  amidst 
which  his  life  and  theirs  have  been  spent,  reach 
into  and  colour  his  religion,  both  as  to  creed  and 
as  to  ideals.  All  cannot  think  alike.  Until  all 
have  the  same  faculties  with  exactly  the  same 
development,  and  live  in  exactly  the  same  circum- 
stances, it  is  folly  to  expect  uniformity  in  religious 
opinions, — a  truth  of  which  the  Hapsburgs  of 
Austria  and  Spain  and  the  Stuarts  of  England  had 
no  conception,  to  the  world's  bitter  sorrow.     The 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  FAITH  217 

Bible  to  one  man  is  plain,  literal,  and  prosaic. 
Every  word  means  just  what  it  says.  When  it  is 
read,  that  is  all  there  is  of  it.  To  another  it  flames 
with  spiritual  suggestion ;  its  sublime  prophecies, 
the  choral  melody  of  the  Psalms,  the  awful  splen- 
dours of  Job  and  Ezekiel,  and  the  great  visions  of 
the  Apocalypse,  are  doors  into  a  world  of  which 
the  literal  sense  is  only  a  symbol.  The  two  men 
are  not  blamable  for  seeing  differently.  One 
never  threw  away  an  imagination,  and  the  other 
never  had  one.  They  interpret  the  same  objective 
revelation  according  to  the  nature  of  their  respec- 
tive individualities.  Instead  of  expecting  all  to 
see  alike,  to  give  to  each  word  an  equal  emphasis, 
and  to  do  fealty  to  precisely  the  same  ideal,  — 
never  the  same  to  two  persons,  —  the  duty  of  each 
to  live  according  to  the  highest  light  he  can  get 
should  be  asserted  and  enforced.  Standards  will 
differ.  Those  are  not  nearest  alike  who  profess 
their  faith  in  the  same  words,  but  those  who  with 
equal  earnestness  and  prayer  strive  to  realize  in 
the  outward  world  the  truth  as  it  is  disclosed  to 
them.  The  spirit  of  a  man  is  more  than  his  intel- 
lectual conclusions.  "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do 
His  will,  he  shall  know,"  said  the  Master.  Views 
of  truth  and  beauty  will  vary  with  individuals. 
That   should   be   expected.      Because    there    are 


2i8  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

wide  differences  in  forms  of  expression  and  inter- 
pretation, it  no  more  follows  that  one  is  all  wrong 
and  another  all  right,  or  that  there  is  no  real  truth, 
than,  because  one  thinks  the  moon  to  be  the  size 
of  a  half-dollar  and  another  thinks  it  the  size  of  a 
half-bushel,  it  follows  therefore  that  there  is  no 
moon.  Opinions  concerning  religion  differ  as  do 
the  people  who  hold  them.  This  is  only  transfer- 
ring to  the  religion;:  sphere  what  all  recognize  in 
every  other  sphere.  The  effect  of  the  recognition 
of  this  fact  will  be  greater  emphasis  upon  the 
spirit  and  character  of  man  than  upon  his  intellect- 
ual beliefs.  The  motto  of  the  rising  church  will 
be,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness."  Truth  itself  is  a  unit;  but  the 
truth  that  each  man  holds  is  only  a  fraction,  and  a 
fraction  modified  by  ancestors  and  circumstances. 
Inability  to  interpret  doctrines  in  the  same  terms 
should  be  expected ;  but  failure  to  search  for  truth 
and  to  be  loyal  to  it  should  be  regarded  as  the  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Not,  What  does  a  man 
believe  ?  but,  What  is  his  attitude  toward  the  Spirit 
of  Truth  ?  is  the  all-important  question.  In  other 
words,  the  teachable  mind  and  the  loyal  spirit  are 
the  surest  signs  of  spiritual  life,  and  these  are 
within  the  reach  of  every  man's  volition. 

The  doctrine  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ  is  the 


i 


THE   PROBLEM  OF  FAITH  2IQ 

central  doctrine  of  the  Christian  revelation.  It 
distinguishes  Jesus  from  all  other  masters.  The 
study  of  heredity  gives  an  altogether  new  signifi- 
cance to  the  word  salvation.  Its  primary  idea  is 
of  one  who  has  lost  his  way,  finding  it  again  ;  of 
one  sick,  restored  to  health ;  of  one  in  peril,  being 
given  a  way  of  escape.  But  we  do  not  proceed 
far  in  this  study  before  we  realize  that  that  from 
which  men  need  salvation  is  a  state  or  condition 
into  which  they  are  born.  The  tendencies  to  evil 
which  burn  in  the  veins  are  not  chosen ;  they  are 
not  taken  in  at  some  specific  time ;  they  are  dis- 
covered, and  the  discovery  is  usually  an  awful  and 
humiliating  surprise.  Most  are  sometime  rudely 
shocked  by  finding  themselves  the  abode  of  pas- 
sions of  whose  existence  they  had  heretofore  been 
ignorant.  This  condition  is  not  sin,  since  sin 
implies  guilt,  and  no  one  is  blamable  for  anything 
which  he  does  not  choose,  and  which  at  first,  at 
least,  he  would  repudiate  with  loathing.  Different 
thinkers  have  given  different  names  lo  this  state, 
such  as  sin,  depravity,  evil,  imperfect  development. 
It  has  been  ascribed  to  the  effect  of  a  wrong  choice 
on  the  part  of  the  first  human  ancestor,  and  it  has 
been  regarded  as  a  necessary  stage  in  the  evolution 
of  humanity.  The  differences  between  philoso- 
phers and  theologians  concerning  innate  tendency 


220  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

to  wrong-doing  are  only  superficial.  They  agree 
in  the  fact ;  they  differ  in  the  name  by  which  that 
fact  is  defined.  Original  sin,  however  much  the 
term  may  have  been  abused,  and  false  as  is  its 
first  suggestion,  is  a  terrible  and  persistent  reality. 
Now  salvation,  to  be  a  thing  desired,  must  be 
deliverance  from  the  state  out  of  which  evil  acts 
grow.  That  this  state  or  condition  is  something 
which  is  transmitted,  few  who  have  studied  human 
life  or  history  would  question.  Theories  about  it 
may  differ,  but  the  sad  reality  remains  that  all 
men  in  all  ages  have  tendencies  which  sooner  or 
later  result  in  acts  that  violate  the  moral  reason 
and  are  condemned  by  conscience.  Salvation,  if 
it  is  worth  having,  must,  therefore,  be  more  than 
remission  of  penalty,  deserved  or  undeserved ;  it 
must  be  nothing  less  than  the  purification  of  a 
stream  of  inheritance.  It  reaches  far  beyond  the 
outward  act,  and  has  to  do  with  the  fountains  of 
being.  No  man  is  really  saved  who  is  merely  for- 
given ;  or,  as  the  late  Dr.  Dale  was  wont  to  say, 
so  forgiven  that  conscience  and  the  eternal  law  of 
righteousness  are  satisfied.  When  our  Lord  said, 
"  I  am  come  that  ye  might  have  life,"  He  spoke 
the  word  which  better  than  any  other  defined  His 
mission.  To  be  conscious  that  one  is  forgiven, 
and  yet  that  at  the  same  time  he  is  so  polluted 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  FAITH  221 

that  he  cannot  beget  a  child  without  handing  on 
to  that  child  a  nature  which  will  be  as  bad  as  if 
his  father  had  never  been  forgiven,  is  not  salvation 
in  any  real  sense.  What  we  need  is  not  only  par- 
don, but  such  a  clarification  of  the  fountains  of 
being  as  will  make  us  the  parents  of  those  whose 
tendencies  shall  be  upward ;  and  nothing  less  is 
worthy  the  name  of  salvation.  It  was  said  of  the 
Master,  "His  name  shall  be  called  Jesus,  because 
He  shall  save  the  people  from  their  sins ;  "  but 
the  people  are  not  saved  from  their  sins  when 
there  are  within  them  streams  of  tendency  waiting 
only  an  opportunity  of  sweeping  away  all  noble 
aspirations  and  holy  volitions.  There  is  a  pro- 
found significance  in  the  phrase  "  new  birth,"  or 
"birth  from  above."  It  indicates  that  the  whole 
personality  is  so  changed  that  that  which  was 
foul  has  become  pure,  and  that  which  formerly 
begat  evil,  now  by  a  law  equally  binding  produces 
a  progeny  with  a  movement  toward  holiness. 
When  we  speak  of  what  we  need,  an  attempt  to 
put  evident  facts  into  Biblical  forms  is  unneces- 
sary. Salvation  can  mean  no  less  than  deliverance 
from  tendencies  toward  evil  and  voluntary  wrong- 
doing ;  it  means  also  deliverance  from  the  necessity 
of  transmitting  to  others  a  polluted  nature.  If  it 
be  said  that  that  is  contrary  to  facts,  the  only  reply 


222  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

must  be,  that  nothing  less  than  this  is  salvation 
worthy  of  the  name.  If  Jesus  Christ  does  not 
supply  this  new  life,  He  is  no  true  Saviour.  A 
fruitful  field  for  theological  investigation  would  be 
an  inductive  study  of  the  transmissibility  of  the 
spiritual  hfe  which  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  Is  it  true 
that  those  who  truly  accept  and  obey  Him  are  so 
regenerated  that  their  children  are  born  in  His 
likeness,  as  those  who  live  without  His  life  are 
born  simply  into  the  likeness  of  the  first  man  ? 
This  is  a  question  which  can  be  answered  wisely 
only  with  facts ;  facts  so  carefully  gathered  and 
classified  as  to  leave  no  question  concerning  their 
value.  What  an  inductive  study  of  this  subject 
would  reveal  is  not  now  known,  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  the  study  of  heredity  has  made 
it  plain  that  that  only  is  salvation  which  imparts  a 
new  and  dominant  life,  putting  in  the  place  of  in- 
born tendencies  toward  sin,  new  and  predominant 
tendencies  toward  holiness.  These  tendencies  may 
coexist,  but  the  tendencies  toward  evil  will  no 
longer  occupy  the  places  of  power  in  the  person- 
ality. Nothing  is  more  terrible  than  the  thought 
that  we  bring  into  being  immortal  spirits  who  by 
an  eternal  and  changeless  law  are  possessed  of  a 
nature  which  will  surely  lead  to  wrong,  and  that 
whatever  relief    may  come  to  us  individually  the 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  FAITH  223 

same  corrupted  nature  must  be  remorselessly 
transmitted.  What  man  who  faces  these  facts 
could  dare  to  become  a  parent !  When  the  word 
is  given  its  deepest  and  truest  significance,  there  is 
disclosed  this  superlative  truth, —  salvation  must  be 
not  only  deliverance  from  the  guilt  of  sin  and  the 
power  of  sin,  but  also  escape  from  the  operation  of 
the  law  by  which  a  corrupt  nature  is  inherited  and 
of  necessity  propagated  in  those  who  come  after 
us.  Nothing  less  is  worth  the  acceptance ;  noth- 
ing more  could  be  desired.  Salvation  is  deliver- 
ance from  the  law  of  heredity,  so  far  as  it  concerns 
the  possession  and  the  necessary  transmission  of 
an  evil  nature.  It  is  the  substitution  of  a  pure 
stock  for  one  that  was  vitiated  and  weak.  What 
less  than  this  could  St.  Paul  have  had  in  mind 
when  he  wrote,  "  Even  we  ourselves  groan  within 
ourselves,  waiting  .  .  .  for  the  redemption  of  the 
body " ;  or,  "  The  creature  itself  also  shall  be 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God .'' " 

Salvation  as  deliverance  from  corrupt  heredity 
is  not  often  made  prominent,  but  it  requires  plain 
though  delicate  treatment.  The  majority  of  man- 
kind probably  come  into  existence  by  accident. 
Beings  so  born,  and  endowed  with  more  poten- 
cies   toward    evil    than   virtue,    need    nothing    so 


224  HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

much  as  emancipation  from  the  bondage  of  their 
parentage.  Precisely  that  seems  to  be  assured 
through  the  new  birth.  The  subject  of  salvation 
is  not  here  discussed  as  a  Scriptural  doctrine ;  it 
has  relations  to  what  may  be  called  corporate 
depravity,  and  those  only  have  occupied  our 
thought.  Thus  much  is  forced  upon  us  by  a 
study  of  human  nature.  But  I  cannot  forbear 
one  remark  suggested  by  what  has  already  been 
said.  The  follower  of  Christ  ought  to  get  more 
out  of  his  faith  than  most  Christians  do.  Those 
who  accept  the  new  life  from  Christ,  we  believe, 
are  not  only  actually  made  new  creatures,  but  are 
in  a  new  and  spiritual  succession  whose  legacy  to 
the  future  is  the  very  life  which  they  have  re- 
ceived from  Christ.  This  is  what  earnest  souls 
have  desired.  While  I  have  not  intended  to 
treat  this  subject  theologically,  perhaps  it  may 
not  be  out  of  place  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  all  Scripture  doctrines  have  an  ampler  sig- 
nificance the  moment  they  are  studied  in  terms 
of  life.  In  order  to  learn  what  salvation  really 
means,  the  reading  of  no  sacred  book  is  necessary, 
but  rather  a  careful  examination  of  the  human 
condition.  The  depraved  human  condition,  under 
an  inexorable  law  of  reproduction,  is  one  fact; 
escape   from  that  condition  and  from  the  neces- 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  221; 

sity  of  reproducing  evil,  to  a  holy  and  truly  spirit- 
ual state,  and  the  privilege  of  handing  that  nature 
on  to  future  generations,  is  what  we  mean  by  sal- 
vation, and  the  proclamation  of  this  truth  is  the 
gospel. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  fundamental 
in  Christianity  as  that  of  salvation  is  central  and 
distinguishing.  It  means  that  God  is  present  and 
efficient  in  the  life  of  the  individual  and  of  the 
race ;  that  He  is  the  ultimate  personality,  and 
that  He  touches  and  influences  spirits,  as  the 
light  touches  and  colours  flowers.  The  law  of 
heredity  presents  a  series  of  facts  which  at  first 
seem  to  leave  no  place  for  action  on  human  beings 
by  a  personality  from  the  outside ;  but  heredity 
does  not  preclude  the  freedom  of  men,  and  there- 
fore we  must  assume  that  it  does  not  exclude  the 
free  direct  action  of  the  Almighty.  God  moving 
human  spirits  according  to  His  own  will  is  God 
the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  one  fact.  The  inquiry 
of  those  who  accept  Christian  teaching  therefore 
is :  How  may  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  fact  that  men  receive  from  those 
who  have  gone  before  them  their  natural  endow- 
ments of  ability  and  tendency  ?  Every  individual 
is  apparently  under  inflexible  laws,  and  in  the  end 
is  what  heredity  and  environment  make  him ;  and 
■  Q 


226  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

yet  he  is  supposed  to  be  responsive  to  the  ministry 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  How  may  these  apparent 
contradictions  be  reconciled  ?  This  inquiry  brings 
us  to  another  which  has  not  yet  been  fully  an- 
swered,—  What  constitutes  human  environment? 
Is  it  composed  only  of  what  we  call  nature,  and 
of  men  in  their  individual  and  corporate  relations  ? 
Or,  is  there,  besides  these,  what  may  be  termed 
an  environment  of  spirit  ?  The  influences  which 
mould  the  life  of  man  are  not  all  material :  the 
most  potent  are  not  light  and  shade,  heat  and 
moisture,  but  others  more  impalpable  which  come 
from  the  spirits  which  men  are,  and  by  which  all 
are  surrounded.  Materialists  alone  would  limit 
the  social  environment  to  material  organisms ;  all 
others  believe  that  in  it  are  beings  whose  force  is 
the  most  potent  that  has  to  do  with  the  growth 
and  modification  of  human  personality.  Not 
bodies,  but  spirits,  constitute  the  social  environ- 
ment. The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
means  not  only  that  each  man  is  surrounded  by 
human  spirits,  but  also  that  his  days  are  passed  in 
the  presence  of  the  absolute,  the  universal  Spirit 
immanent  in  the  universe.  When  we  speak  of 
environment,  we  include  not  only  the  physical 
conformation  of  the  country,  the  brightness  or 
dulness  of  the   skies,  the   climate,  the  houses  in 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  227 

which  we  live,  the  people  among  whom  we  dwell, 
the  institutions  of  which  we  are  a  part,  but  also 
the  factor,  most  constant  of  all,  from  which  none 
ever  escape, — God,  the  Spirit,  whose  touch,  softer 
than  light,  never  for  a  moment  is  absent  from  the 
human  spirit.  Our  inquiry  concerns  not  the  rela- 
tion of  a  remote  sovereign  to  subjects  in  a  re- 
morseless series  of  physical  causation,  but  rather 
the  influence  of  environment  on  heredity.  In  pre- 
ceding chapters  it  has  been  already  sufficiently 
emphasized  that  in  the  making  of  man  environ- 
ment is  the  stronger  force.  If  a  child  with  vile 
inheritance  can  be  placed  where  the  predominant 
influences  make  for  moral  and  spiritual  health, 
the  probabilities  are  that  he  will  grow  into  virtue 
and  manly  strength.  If  the  atmosphere  favours 
intellectual  culture,  even  the  most  stupid  will 
probably  respond  to  its  inspirations.  Whatever 
tendencies  may  be  in  the  blood,  if  the  environ- 
ment is  spiritual  the  growth  should  be  toward 
spirituality.  With  some  it  will  be  slow;  with 
others,  swift;  with  all  it  should  be  sure. 

But  if  the  Spirit  of  God  is  constant  and  uni- 
versal, how  do  any  fail  to  show  the  transforming 
influences  of  divine  environment .-'  That  inquiry 
leads  back  to  the  question  of  freedom.  Enough 
here  to  say  that  there   is    no   real    contradiction. 


228  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

Light  fills  the  spaces,  while  a  man  from  ignorance 
may  remain  in  a  cave,  or  from  choice  dwell  in 
darkness.  The  Divine  Spirit  is  everywhere  opera- 
tive, but  some,  not  knowing  it,  may  continue  in  filth 
and  animalism,  and  others,  fascinated  by  the  flesh, 
may  choose  only  what  will  gratify  appetite.  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  the  divine  factor  in  the  environ- 
ment  of  every  human  being.  If  a  man  chooses, 
he  may  resist  all  improving  influences ;  and  if  he 
wills  to  do  so,  he  can  conquer  all  the  vicious  ten- 
dencies inherited  from  past  generations.  Both 
the  human  and  divine  elements  in  environment 
may  be  resisted,  and  both  may  be  gladly  wel- 
comed. That  a  flower  of  necessity  receives  colour 
from  the  light,  while  a  man  may  respond  to  his 
environment  or  not  as  he  chooses,  is  among  the 
problems  which  remain  to  be  solved.  But  the 
mystery  is  not  so  great  as  at  first  appears,  because 
the  divine  is  not  the  sole  factor  in  any  man's 
environment.  In  proportion  as  the  environment 
of  a  man  is  exclusively  good,  the  probabilities  are 
multiplied  that  he  will  be  good,  whatever  his 
inborn  tendencies.  Therefore,  the  real  problem 
which  faces  all  who  are  engaged  in  such  studies 
as  the  present  is,  how  may  all  human  beings 
be  brought  under  the  constant  and  exclusive  in- 
fluence  of    a   spiritual   environment .-'      The   best 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  FAITH  229 

way  to  secure  what  is  commonly  desired  —  a  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Spirit  —  is  to  put  ourselves  where 
the  prevailing  influences  will  be  spiritual.  If  the 
example  of  the  early  Christians  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  be  cited  as  illustrating  the  reverse,  I 
must  remind  my  readers  that  the  Holy  Ghost  fell 
on  those  who  were  separated  temporarily  from  the 
world,  and  who  were  all  together  in  one  place  with 
one  mind  and  one  heart,  seeking  a  common  bless- 
ing. But  no  general  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from 
exceptional  illustrations.  The  Scripture  represents 
the  Spirit  of  God  as  universal,  constant,  and  for 
all ;  and  when  I  am  asked,  as  I  have  been.  How 
do  you  reconcile  the  ministry  of  the  Spirit  with 
the  evident  facts  concerning  heredity  and  environ- 
ment .''  I  reply,  the  Spirit  is  a  part  of  all  envi- 
ronment; a  power  as  constant  and  pervasive  as 
solar  energy ;  therefore  the  chief  privilege  of  all 
who  have  that  knowledge,  and  have  yielded  to 
that  sway,  is  to  endeavour  to  help  others  to  see 
and  to  respond  to  the  Being  who  never  has  to  be 
sought,  and  who  besets  all  men  behind  and  before. 
A  consideration  of  questions  in  dispute  in  theology 
is  unnecessary  now.  Whether  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
a  person  or  only  a  power ;  whether  He  is  present 
in  the  church  as  not  in  the  world,  and  whether, 
since  the  day  of  Pentecost  He  has  been  efficient 


230  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

as  never  before,  we  need  not  ask.  The  vital  ques- 
tion for  us  is,  Is  there  any  place  left  for  divine 
activity  when  man  is  explained  to  be  the  product 
of  his  birth  and  the  circumstances  in  which  he 
grows  ?  That  question  I  have  tried  to  answer. 
God  is  the  largest  part  of  every  man's  environ- 
ment, and  if  there  were  no  power  of  resistance 
every  man  would  as  naturally  grow  toward  holi- 
ness as  flowers  toward  light.  But  holiness  implies 
freedom,  and  freedom  the  possibility  of  resistance, 
and  so,  though  no  man  can  ever  go  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  every  man  may  resist 
the  influences  which  are  intended  to  make  him 
holy  as  God  is  holy. 

There  remains  yet  one  other  aspect  of  this 
subject.  The  Author  of  nature  is  not  affected 
by  our  theories  concerning  natural  causes.  Nat- 
ural causes  are  only  methods  for  the  manifesta- 
tion of  divine  energy.  Every  natural  cause  is 
God  acting.  But  the  phrase  "  natural  causes " 
seems  to  exclude  His  free  action.  That  free 
action  we  have  been  accustomed  to  call  super- 
natural, but  all  causes  are,  in  a  measure,  super- 
natural. This  is  the  inquiry,  Is  there  any  place 
left  for  the  interposition  of  God  in  the  affairs 
of  human  life  ?  I  reply,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
fact  that  men  are  the  children  of   their  parents, 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  2^1 

or  that  they  are  modified  by  their  circumstances, 
to  justify  the  supposition  that  God,  who  is  a 
Spirit,  may  not  at  any  time  and  in  any  way  inter- 
pose new  forces  in  the  midst  of  those  which  are 
supposed  to  be  the  only  normal  ones  impelling 
growth.  Given  a  God  who  is  absolutely  free,  no 
law  can  obstruct  His  activity — not  even  the  eter- 
nal law  of  righteousness,  since  that  is  but  the 
shadow  of  His  holiness.  Whether  the  action  of 
these  laws  ever  has  been  interrupted  is  a  ques- 
tion of  fact,  not  one  for  speculation.  To  sup- 
pose that  the  Divine  Spirit  could  not  interpose 
at  His  own  pleasure  would  be  to  deny  to  Him 
the  freedom  asserted  for  man.  Further  into  this 
question  we  need  not  enter.  Enough  to  be  as- 
sured that  no  human  being  will  ever  be  outside 
the  reach  of  that  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  who  in 
the  beginning  brooded  on  the  face  of  the  waters, 
and  whose  ministry  of  sympathy,  comfort,  con- 
viction of  sin,  and  interpretation  of  truth  will 
never  fail  from  among  men.  The  hope  of  the 
future  lies  in  the  realization  by  individuals  that 
none  are  ever  for  a  moment  forsaken  by  God, 
and  that  the  ministry  of  His  Spirit  is  constant, 
impartial,  pervasive,  and  never-failing.  As  fast 
as  men  have  the  vision  of  God,  and  are  made 
to  appreciate  that  He  is  their  Sun,  the  source  of 


232  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

their  life,  the  power  to  which  they  may  be  joined, 
the  goal  toward  which  they  are  pressing,  the 
transforming  power  of  the  divine  in  their  spir- 
itual environment  proves  more  than  a  match  for 
all  the  streams  of  evil  inheritance,  however  far 
they  have  come  from  the  past. 

The  facts  heretofore  considered  suggest  a 
needed  modification  in  the  manner  of  presenting 
the  doctrines  of  sin,  responsibility,  and  penalty. 
Science  now  testifies  positively  to  two  tremendous 
facts.  On  the  one  hand,  it  shows  the  all  but 
prevailing  influence  of  inherited  tendencies ;  on 
the  other,  the  inevitable  and  remorseless  result 
of  the  violation  of  law.  The  problem  of  indi- 
vidual human  destiny,  studied  in  tke  light  of 
nature  alone,  is  very  complicated,  and  its  out- 
come is  heavily  shadowed.  Heredity  impels  men 
strongly  and  persistently  to  violation  of  law,  and, 
when  they  yield  to  their  impulses,  a  law  of 
retribution  takes  them  in  hand  and  does  not  let 
them  go  until  they  have  paid  the  uttermost  far- 
thing. "  Nature,"  says  Professor  Huxley,  "  always 
checkmates  without  haste  and  without  remorse, 
never  overlooking  a  mistake,  or  making  the 
slightest  allowance  for  ignorance."  The  reign  of 
law  makes  the  consequences  of  violation  of  law 
(which  is  sin)  apparently  hopeless.     It  is  a  dark 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  233 

picture  which  science  paints  for  us.  Human 
beings  are  not  what  they  make  themselves,  but 
what  they  are  made.  Then  they  are  doomed 
to  long-drawn  suffering  and  death,  because  they 
are  what  they  could  not  help  being.  This,  as 
has  been  said,  is  Calvinism  with  God  left  out; 
and  it  is  the  whole  story  of  human  life  to  all  who 
deny  the  reality  of  spiritual  religion ;  for  with 
them  death,  for  the  individual,  ends  all.  Chris- 
tianity paints  the  same  picture,  but  with  different 
colours.  It  places  the  brightness  of  possible 
escape,  and  of  heavenly  endowment  and  environ- 
ment, over  against  this  Dantean  hell  of  death 
in  life.  The  law  of  retribution  is  not  denied  or 
minimized  ;  but  a  Power  is  brought  to  view  that 
is  able  to  deliver  in  spite  of  it.  Salvation  —  all 
that  is  implied  in  the  great  word  grace —  is  in 
the  heart  of  the  Christian  faith ;  but  it  is  salva- 
tion for  those  who  accept  the  terms  of  salvation, 
terms  strictly  in  accord  with  the  laws  revealed 
by  science.  I  have  said  that  the  law  of  retri- 
bution is  not  denied ;  it  is  time,  however,  in  view 
of  the  discoveries  of  science,  that  it  was  defined 
anew.  Retribution  is  not  something  arbitrary, 
but  the  final  result  of  the  choice  of  the  individual ; 
wrong-doing  and  suffering  are  inseparably  bound 
together,    yet  surely   the    degree    to    which    the 


234 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


choice  was  predetermined,  and  the  wrong-doing 
shared  or  caused  by  others,  must  be  taken  into 
account  by  the  Judge  of  all.  And  by  us,  wrong- 
doers of  very  different  kinds — those  who  make 
mistakes  and  those  who  deliberately  transgress  — 
should  not  be  classed  together  indiscriminately, 
either  in  guilt  or  in  punishment.  "  It  is  very 
singular,"  says  Dr.  Holmes,  "  that  we  recognize 
all  the  bodily  defects  that  unfit  a  man  for  military 
service,  and  all  the  intellectual  ones  that  limit 
his  range  of  thought ;  but  always  talk  at  him  as 
though  all  his  moral  powers  were  perfect.  .  .  . 
Some  persons  talk  about  the  human  will  as  if 
it  stood  on  a  high  lookout  with  plenty  of  light, 
and  elbow  room  reaching  to  the  horizon.  Doc- 
tors are  constantly  noticing  how  it  is  tied  up 
and  darkened  by  inferior  organization,  by  dis- 
ease, and  all  sorts  of  crowding  interferences  ;  until 
they  get  to  look  upon  Hottentots  and  Indians  — 
and  many  of  their  own  race  too  —  as  a  kind 
of  self-conscious  blood-clocks,  with  very  limited 
power  of  self-determination  ;  and  they  find  it  as 
hard  to  hold  a  child  accountable  in  any  moral 
point  of  view  for  inherited  bad  temper,  or  ten- 
dency to  drunkenness,  as  they  would  to  blame 
him  for  inheriting  gout  or  asthma."  ^     Dr.  Elam 

1  Quoted  in  A  Physician's  Problems,  Elam,  p.  59. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  235 

says  :  "  The  man  who  inherits  from  his  parents 
an  impulsive  or  easily  tempted  nature  and  an 
inert  will  and  judgment,  and  commits  a  crime 
under  the  influence  of  strong  emotion,  can  no 
more  be  placed  in  the  same  category  of  responsi- 
bility with  a  man  of  more  favourable  constitution 
and  temperament,  than  can  a  man  who  steals  a 
loaf  under  the  pangs  of  starvation,  with  the  mer- 
chant who  commits  a  forgery  to  afford  him  the 
means  of  prolonging  a  guilty  career."  ^  All  are 
not  alike.  The  greatest  sin  is  sin  against  the 
greatest  light  and  with  the  greatest  ability  to 
resist.  He  who  is  weakened  and  diseased  because 
of  the  vices  of  his  ancestors  reaches  the  period 
of  accountability  with  his  hands  tied.  Those 
who  look  beyond  a  universe  of  forces  and  laws 
to  a  Father  whose  heart  loves  all  His  children 
must  not  forget  that  He  bears  our  griefs  and 
carries  our  sorrows,  and  in  all  our  afflictions  is 
afflicted,  and  that  what  is  inherited,  instead  of 
adding  to  a  man's  condemnation,  if  justice  and 
love  are  not  lies,  is  counted  in  his  favour.  Neglect 
to  make  allowance  for  the  facts  of  heredity,  and 
the  classing  of  all  transgressors  in  one  common 
herd,  as  if  all  the  good  belonged  above  a  certain 
invisible    line    and    all   the   wicked  below    it,   has 

^  A  Physician'' s  Problems,  Elam,  p.  59. 


236  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

helped  to  bring  the  doctrine   of   retribution   into 
disfavour  with  many  who  are  ready  to  say  with 

Whittier :  — 

"The  wrong  that  pains  my  soul  below 
I  dare  not  throne  above; 
I  know  not  of  His  hate,  —  I  know 
His  goodness  and  His  love." 

The  fact  of  retribution  is  evident  and  awful 
enough.  It  ought  to  be  guarded  against  the  im- 
putation of  injustice.  It  is  unjust  and  unreason- 
able to  count  evil-doers  who  have  had  a  good  moral 
heritage  and  a  good  environment  no  more  guilty 
than  those  whose  minds  and  hearts  are  stained 
and  poisoned,  and  whose  wills  are  weakened,  by 
the  vice  of  many  generations.  This  is  not  the 
place  for  a  full  discussion  of  this  subject.  There 
is  room,  however,  for  the  question,  whether  there 
is  anything  Christian,  and,  indeed,  anything  but 
hideous  caricature  in  the  way  the  doctrines  of 
original  sin,  total  depravity,  and  endless  retribu- 
tion have  sometimes  been  preached,  as  though 
the  hapless  individual,  through  no  action  and  so 
no  responsibility  on  his  part,  were  damned  into 
an  earthly  existence  only  to  be  damned  a  second 
time  into  another  still  more  horrible.  This  unfort- 
unate, and  as  we  believe  most  untrue,  presentation 
of  a  great  and  beneficent  truth  is  responsible  for 


THE  PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  23? 

much  unbelief  among  intelligent  classes.  What 
is  called  irreligion  is  often  only  a  revolt  against 
gross  misrepresentation  of  a  good  and  gracious 
God.  Much  has  been  said  about  the  responsi- 
bility of  man  to  God;  it  is  time  that  emphasis 
was  placed  on  the  responsibility  of  God  to  man. 
This  is  not  said  that  wrong-doing  may  be  justi- 
fied, but  that  our  Father  may  not  be  misrep- 
resented. Every  man  who  is  true  to  his  own 
intellectual  processes  and  to  his  highest  intuitions 
must  acknowledge  that  the  more  heavily  a  man 
is  weighed  down  with  evil  tendencies  when  he 
comes  into  conscious  existence,  the  more  allow- 
ance ought  to  be  made  for  his  acts  of  wrong-doing. 
If  a  man's  nature  is  totally  depraved  from  his 
birth,  it  is  irreverence  and  impiety  to  presume 
that  the  Deity  holds  him  to  the  same  «,<xounta- 
bility  as  the  one  who  has  possession  of  untainted 
and  unweakened  powers.  Into  the  vexed  ques- 
tion of  the  penalties  of  the  future  I  do  not  enter, 
except  to  say  that,  in  that  realm  of  which  so  little 
is  known,  the  agency  of  heredity  and  environment 
in  the  case  of  every  human  being  will  have  full 
allowance.  To  teach  the  contrary  is  to  ask  think- 
ing men  to  disregard  their  reason  and  stultify 
their   moral  intuitions. 

Considered  by  itself,  a  study  of  the  subject  of 


2->8  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

heredity  leads  quickly  to  pessimism ;  but,  with 
a  proper  understanding  of  it,  it  may  lead  to  faith, 
and  become  an  aid  in  apologetics.  Its  testimony, 
strong  and  unequivocal,  is  that  the  progress  of 
the  race  depends  on  faith  in  spiritual  things.  If 
there  is  no  revelation  from  God,  and  no  possibility 
of  knowing  God ;  if  there  is  no  soul  in  man 
apart  from  some  vital  principle  of  his  body ;  if 
there  is  no  reasonable  basis  for  belief  in  life 
after  death,  then  there  is  no  conceivable  motive 
strong  enough  to  induce  men  to  make  a  stand 
against  the  malign  tendencies  in  their  blood 
or  the  debasing  influences  of  their  environment. 
It  is  indeed  possible  to  change  the  course  of 
heredity,  but  to  do  so  requires  resolution,  self- 
denial,  and  watchfulness ;  and,  if  death  ends  all, 
why  struggle .''  If  into  that  sleep  no  dreams  can 
come,  then  I,  for  one,  am  ready  to  justify  suicide, 
and  to  declare  that  the  greatest  fools  are  those 
who  deny  themselves  any  pleasures  that  will  not 
in  this  life  give  them  pain. 

The  future  of  humanity  depends  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  there  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  human  will  any  motive  strong  enough  to  in- 
duce a  man  to  fight  inherited  evil,  and  to  put 
forth  efforts  to  improve  the  circumstances  in 
which    his    children    and   neigrhbours    must     live. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   FAITH  239 

That  question  carries  with  it  the  problem  of  man- 
kind, and  that  question  Christianity  meets  with 
the  gospel  as  its  full  and  satisfactory  answer. 
The  Christian  answer  vindicates  its  claim  to  be 
the  true  one,  by  what  it  can  do  and  is  doing  for 
men.  It  unites  the  three  strongest  motives  that 
can  appeal  to  a  human  being.  It  teaches  that 
men  are  more  than  cogs  in  a  machine,  or  even  than 
•  individuals  in  a  family;  it  presents  Love  pleading 
with  a  being  able  to  respond  to  love  and  sorely 
needing  it ;  and  it  brings  to  bear  the  mighty  in- 
centive of  the  endless  life  to  stimulate  a  true 
self-love,  and  also  to  act  as  a  cause  of  fear.  The 
appeal  is  to  love,  self-love,  and  to  fear.  Greater 
inducements  to  resist  evil  tendencies  and  unfa- 
vourable conditions  cannot  be  conceived.  These 
three  motives  Christianity  puts  before  all  men. 
Most  that  has  been  done  for  man  and  by  man 
in  the  way  of  culture,  in  the  development  of  char- 
ities, in  the  improvement  of  the  social  order,  in 
the  inspiration  of  lofty  ideals,  has  been  in  response 
to  this  appeal.  No  evidence  of  the  divine  origin 
of  Christianity  is  more  convincing  than  this :  it 
furnishes  motives  strong  enough  to  inspire  the 
individual  and  the  race  to  constant  effort  toward 
better  things.  Evolution  prophesies  a  golden  age 
for  the  race ;  it  has  nothing  to  offer  to  the  indi- 


240         HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

vidual.  Perfection  which  rises  on  personal  anni- 
hilation may  be  a  satisfactory  theory  as  applied 
to  the  brute  creation,  but  as  applied  to  the  trou- 
bled world  of  mankind  it  is  a  stone  offered  to  the 
hungry.  Christianity  makes  progress  possible  by 
supplying  adequate  motives  for  progress,  namely, 
God,  the  Father  and  Lover  of  all ;  the  possible 
salvation  of  all ;  and  the  certainty  of  endless  exist- 
ence, which  alone  makes  God  and  salvation  worth 
having.  If  these  doctrines  are  facts,  then  efforts 
to  uplift  humanity  are  natural,  inevitable,  and 
full  of  promise ;  if  they  are  not  facts,  but  merely 
projections  of  bright  fancies,  illusions  that  men 
have  conjured  up  wherewith  to  cheat  themselves, 
then,  let  the  poor  starve,  the  quicker  the  better ; 
let  the  weak  go  down,  that  the  strong  may  have 
room ;  let  the  struggle  for  existence,  with  its  occa- 
sional comedy  and  universal  tragedy,  go  on  as  it 
will.  With  the  burdened  millions,  then,  the  hap- 
piest man  is  he  who  soonest  gets  off  the  stage. 
Progress  is  conditioned  on  something  to  live  for. 
If  there  is  no  God,  no  soul,  no  life  after  death, 
life  with  a  large  part  of  the  race,  and  with  increas- 
ing years  with  the  greater  part  of  the  race,  is  not 
worth  living.  Thus  the  happiness  of  man  depends 
upon  the  validity  of  the  truths  which  are  central 
in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ.     But  that  which 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  FAITH  24 1 

always  and  everywhere  makes  for  blessing  can- 
not be  false.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the 
strongest  and  only  sufficient  counter  influence  to 
the  pessimism  which  logically  results  from  a  one- 
sided study  of  this  subject  is  derived  from  the 
religion  of  Christ.  The  ideas  of  God  and  of  salva- 
tion—  the  possibility  of  escape  from  vicious  lega- 
cies—  and  of  immortality,  were  taught  not  for 
the  first  time  by  Jesus  Christ,  but  it  was  He  who 
gave  them  sufficient  sanction  for  the  credence 
of  thoughtful  men,  and  made  them  truths  rather 
than  theories  in  the  world ;  and  it  is  His  teach- 
ing regarding  them  which  is  now,  as  it  has  been 
for  eighteen  centuries,  the  surest  antidote  to  the 
depression  which  must  be  felt  when  we  face  the 
awful  mysteries  by  which  we  are  surrounded. 

R 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST 

In  Studying  the  relation  of  heredity  to  the 
various  social  and  theological  problems  we  come 
quickly  to  the  inquiry,  How  do  you  account  for 
Jesus  Christ  ?  Laying  aside  speculation,  and  con- 
sidering only  facts  which  are  uncontested  by  all 
who  grant  the  historical  accuracy  of  the  Gospels, 
how  is  the  phenomenal  life  and  career  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  to  be  explained  ?  To  make  some  sug- 
gestions toward  an  answer  to  this  question  is  the 
object  of  this  chapter. 

It  will  be  well  briefly  to  recall  a  few  of  the 
replies  which  have  been  given  to  our  inquiry. 
Some  writers  have  been  satisfied  to  say,  He  was 
a  unique  spiritual  genius.  Genius  can  never  be 
accounted  for  by  heredity,  and  the  problem  in  no 
way  differs  from  that  which  we  face  when  asked 
to  account  for  Dante,  Luther,  Goethe,  Shake- 
speare, and  Shelley.  Men  of  genius  are  always 
outside  all  categories.  They  are  what  the  biolo- 
gists would  call  "  sports." 

Another  class  satisfy  themselves  and  attempt  to 
242 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF   CHRIST       243 

satisfy  others  by  simply  answering,  He  was  not 
a  man,  and  laws  usually  applicable  to  humanity 
have  no  relation  to  Him.  He  was  God.  Argu- 
ment, of  course,  is  of  no  avail  with  those  who 
have  no  difficulties  to  be  removed;  but  for  most 
of  the  world  such  a  reply  is  without  value. 

Still  another  class,  of  which  Ernest  Renan  is 
perhaps  the  most  plausible  representative,  at- 
tempt to  explain  the  unique  personality  of  Jesus 
by  the  environment  in  which  He  was  placed.  His 
ethical  teaching,  it  is  said,  was  His  legacy  from 
the  prophets  ;  with  the  very  air  He  inhaled  lofty 
spiritual  ideals ;  He  was  the  consummate  flower 
of  Judaism,  growing  in  what  was  practically  the 
centre  of  the  world  and  of  the  ages.  The  vari- 
ous influences  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  atmos- 
phere, the  shining  hopes  of  a  people  long  trained 
to  think  divine  thoughts,  left  their  impress  upon 
His  sensitive  spirit,  and  account  for  all  that  was 
peculiar  in  His  teaching  and  in  Himself,  except 
that  impalpable  something  which  we  call  genius. 
But  this  explanation  leaves  out  of  account  all 
that  was  most  characteristic  of  Jesus. 

None  of  these  answers  are  sufficient.  To  say 
that  He  was  only  a  supreme  spiritual  genius  is 
to  ignore  the  simplest  facts  of  His  life ;  while  to 
be  content  to  say  that  He  was  singularly  sensitive 


244  HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

to  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  atmosphere  and 
to  the  ideals  of  His  age,  is  to  leave  untouched  the 
question,  Where  did  that  man,  who  was  affected 
by  such  influences  as  no  other  who  ever  lived,  get 
His  sensitive  nature  ? 

Physically  Jesus  was  a  Jew,  and  probably  re- 
sembled other  Jews,  although  all  the  ideals  of  the 
artists,  and  all  the  traditions  concerning  Him, 
represent  Him  as  having  nothing  characteristi- 
cally national  in  His  appearance.  No  conclusion, 
however,  can  be  drawn  from  this  fact,  and  we 
grant  that  in  physical  traits  He  was  like  other 
men  of  His  nation  and  time.  When  we  come 
to  His  personality  as  manifested  in  His  ethical 
teachings.  His  ideals  for  himself  and  for  human- 
ity. His  intuitions  of  things  unseen  and  infinite. 
His  reversals  of  standards  of  thought  and  conduct 
which  had  behind  them  the  authority  of  antiquity, 
then  the  importance  of  our  inquiry  appears. 
Renan  says :  "  This  nature  at  once  smiling  and 
grand  was  the  whole  education  of  Jesus.  He 
learned  to  read  and  write,  doubtless,  according  to 
the  method  of  the  East,  which  consists  in  putting 
into  the  hands  of  the  child  a  book,  from  which 
he  repeats  in  concert  with  his  little  school-fellows 
until  he  knows  it  by  heart.  It  is  doubtful,  how- 
ever, whether  He  really  understood  the  Hebrew 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF  CHRIST       245 

writings  in  their  original  tongue."  ^  "  It  is  not 
probable  that  He  knew  Greek."  ^  Our  problem 
is  this,  How  do  we  account  for  this  man  whose 
whole  education  was  derived  from  "  nature  smil- 
ing and  grand ; "  who  probably  knew  neither 
Hebrew  nor  Greek,  and  yet  who  has  taught 
wisdom  and  religion  to  the  highest  and  lowest 
alike  from  His  time  until  our  own .''  He  had  a 
spiritual  insight  of  a  finer  and  truer  quality  than 
any  other  man  of  His  race  or  of  any  other  race, 
so  far  as  we  know,  ever  possessed.  He  had  an 
unparalleled  consciousness  of  God.  Something 
like  that  consciousness  had  been  in  others.  Moses 
is  represented  as  having  seen  the  divine  glory  in 
the  bush  that  burned  but  was  not  consumed ; 
Isaiah  said  that  he  saw  the  Lord,  and  many 
others  had  similar  experiences  ;  but  their  visions, 
or  glimpses,  or  intuitions,  were  little  like  the  sight 
of  Jesus,  who  seemed  to  live  with  God,  whom 
with  perfect  naturalness  He  called  His  Father. 
The  more  carefully  this  fact  is  examined,  the 
more  clearly  it  is  seen  to  be  without  parallel.  His 
words  concerning  the  Deity  were  evidently  the 
voice  of  personal  experience.  He  speaks  as  one 
who  sees  God,  while  others  speak  as  those  who 

1  Life  of  Jesus,  Renan,  p.  72. 

2  Ibid.  p.  73. 


246  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

have  heard  about  God,  or  who  have  drawn  infer- 
ences concerning  Him  as  the  result  of  rational 
processes.  There  is  a  quality  of  intimacy  and 
acquaintance  with  the  Deity  in  the  words  of  Jesus 
unlike  the  awe-struck  humiliation  of  Isaiah,  or  the 
inspired  meditation  of  the  Psalmist.  He  was  a 
Jew,  and  yet  His  sympathy  was  wide  as  human- 
ity. Occasionally  the  greatest  of  the  prophets 
had  visions  of  a  kingdom  coterminous  with  human- 
ity, but  those  visions  were  of  far-off  times  and  dim 
and  uncertain  in  details.  Jesus  was  born  in  Judea, 
and  yet  was  not  a  Jew.  All  His  ancestry  was  in 
one  category ;  He  seemed  to  belong  in  an  en- 
tirely different  one.  Every  prejudice  of  His  na- 
tion against  other  nations  was  absent  from  Him. 
The  whole  world  was  his  fatherland,  and  all  men 
who  loved  God  and  their  fellow-men  were  His 
brethren.  This  may  not  seem  remarkable  until  it 
is  remembered  that  race  prejudices  are  almost  un- 
conquerable. His  people  were  intensely  national- 
istic and  narrow ;  He  was  positively  humanistic 
and  broad.  His  people  imagined  themselves  to  be 
the  favourites  of  the  Almighty ;  He  declared  that 
all  were  favourites  who  did  right  and  obeyed  God, 
His  reputed  father  and  mother  were  citizens  of 
Judea;  He  was  a  citizen  of  the  world.  Where  did 
those  qualities  come  from .''    We  search  in  vain  for 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF  CHRIST       247 

anything  like  them  among  His  great  ancestors. 
Isaiah  was  nearest  like  Him,  but  He  was  far 
away;  and  while  Isaiah  spoke  glowing  words 
about  a  time  when  sectional  and  national  lines 
would  go  down,  he  himself  was  an  intense  patriot. 
The  unique  characteristics  of  Jesus  become 
more  apparent  when  His  teaching  is  examined 
in  detail.  He  was  surrounded  by  those  who  were 
slaves  of  the  letter,  who  magnified  the  unessential : 
but  He  spoke  one  clear  message  concerning  the  su- 
premacy of  the  spirit.  Not  the  letter,  but  the  spirit ; 
not  the  form,  but  the  substance ;  not  the  outward 
conduct,  but  the  inner  state  of  the  heart,  according 
to  His  teaching,  are  the  tests  of  character.  He 
still  further  reversed  the  teaching  of  His  age. 
Revenge  against  enemies  had  been  considered 
almost  a  national  virtue.  He  lived  near  to  a  great 
Roman  highway,  and  must  have  been  familiar 
with  the  ethical  teachings  which  followed  the 
Roman  armies.  The  idea  of  love  to  enemies, 
that  no  man  could  possess  a  holy  character  until 
he  could  say  that  he  loved  those  who  did  him  evil, 
was  utterly  foreign  to  His  nation  and  to  the 
atmosphere  in  which  He  lived.  To  the  Jews 
the  Romans  were  brutal  dogs,  and  to  the  Ro- 
mans the  Jews  were  a  nation  of  cringing,  sneak- 
ing, money-loving  hypocrites.     Yet  in   the   midst 


248  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

of  such  surroundings  arose  this  man  who  had  no 
training  but  that  of  nature  and  of  the  Jewish 
and  Roman  environment  in  which  His  days  were 
passed.  He  taught  the  conditions  to  which  the 
world  is  slowly  but  surely  approximating.  When 
all  the  good  in  all  the  ideals  of  the  philosophers 
and  social  reformers  is  realized,  therein  will  be 
only  what  Jesus  taught  concerning  the  value  of 
man,  and  his  relations  to  his  fellow-men  and  to 
the  universe.  He  was  utterly  unlike  the  men  of 
His  time  in  His  relation  to  God  ;  in  His  sympa- 
thies, which  were  wide  as  the  world ;  in  the  fact 
that  He  reversed  almost  all  the  teaching  with 
which  He  was  familiar.  Of  course  there  were 
probably  lessons  that  came  out  of  the  pure  heart 
of  that  young  mother  which  strangely  influenced 
His  career,  but  what,  and  how  many  they  were, 
we  may  not  know.  Enough  for  us  that  so  far  as 
we  can  understand  He  was  as  utterly  unlike  His 
fellow-men  and  His  time  as  a  great  golden-hearted 
lily  is  unlike  the  muck  of  a  mountain  lake  in  which 
it  grows. 

To  all  these  facts  must  be  added  another,  —  His 
parents  were  poor.  He  was  compelled  to  work 
with  His  hands  for  a  livelihood.  The  silent  years 
in  the  life  of  Jesus  were  without  doubt  passed 
as  the  same  years  were  passed  by  others  of  His 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST       240 

countrymen  of  the  same  station  in  life.  He  was 
acquainted  with  drudgery.  This  is  undisputed. 
There  was  little  time  for  intellectual  growth. 
Others  have  been  trained  in  the  schools ;  by  the 
path  of  meditation,  like  Buddha,  or  of  dialectics, 
like  Plato,  they  have  learned  the  lessons  which 
lie  deep  in  our  common  humanity;  but  Jesus  died 
at  about  the  age  that  most  find  themselves  quali- 
fied for  strong  thinking.  He  knew  few  books, 
probably  none  but  the  Old  Testament  and  some 
commentaries  upon  it.  He  had  relatively  few 
opportunities  to  feel  the  influence  of  the  great 
world-currents  of  thought,  and  if  He  had  come 
into  touch  with  them  He  would  have  had  little 
time  to  study  their  significance.  No  one  else 
situated  as  He  was  has  spoken  such  thoughts  or 
had  such  visions.  Philo  and  Josephus  may  be 
cited,  but,  although  Jews,  both  had  the  advantages 
of  intellectual  training  and  travel.  All  the  treas- 
ures of  Alexandrian  libraries  were  enjoyed  by  at 
least  one  of  them.  What  they  learned  by  inves- 
tigation, association  with  men,  and  the  companion- 
ship of  literature,  the  young  peasant  knew  by 
intuition ;  with  all  that  was  valuable  in  their  train- 
ing and  investigation,  Jesus  seemed  to  have  been 
possessed  from  His  birth.  He  could  not  have 
been  taught  this  by  others.     That  were  to  suppose 


250  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

a  miracle  as  strange  as  any  of  those  which  a  too 
credulous  church  has  woven  around  His  infancy. 
Amid  these  and  similar  historical  conditions  His 
days  were  passed.  Could  His  environment  have 
made  Him  ?  Can  it  explain  Him  ?  "  There  was 
a  fine  fitness  in  His  being  a  Jew,  a  Son  of  Abra- 
ham, the  Hebrew.  The  supreme  religious  person 
of  the  race  fitly  came  from  its  most  religious  fam- 
ily. He  was  the  personification  of  its  genius,  the 
heir  of  its  work.  It  had  created  the  history  that 
made  Him  possible,  the  men  to  whom  He  was  intel- 
ligible and  through  whom  He  could  be  revealed  to 
the  world.  But  He  transcended  its  powers  of  pro- 
duction ;  He  was  more  and  greater  than  its  native 
energies  could  create.  The  splendid  religious 
genius  of  Israel  had  issued  in  Judaism,  and  which 
of  its  two  great  parties  could  produce  a  Christ  ? 
The  Sadducees  would  not  own  Him.  He  be- 
longed to  no  ruling  family,  had  no  priestly  blood 
in  His  veins ;  was  one  whose  very  meddling  with 
religion  deserved  nothing  less  than  death.  And 
Pharisaism  was  as  incapable  of  forming  Him.  .  .  . 
It  was  fundamentally  increative,  radically  infer- 
tile. .  .  .  All  its  wisdom  is  the  wisdom  of  the  inter- 
preter ;  all  its  goodness  the  goodness  of  the  school. 
But  Jesus  is  throughout  the  very  antithesis  and 
contradiction  of   Pharisaism.  .  .  .     His   historical 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON  OF   CHRIST       25 1 

conditions,  while  equal  to  the  making  of  a  Rabbi, 
were  not  equal  to  the  creation  of  a  Universal 
Teacher."  1  The  force  of  this  reasoning  is  still 
more  evident  when,  leaving  the  historical  conditions 
which  were  the  environment  of  Jesus,  we  come  to 
our  own  time.  We  live  in  the  splendour  of  an  age 
which  inherits  the  intellectual  treasures  of  Greece; 
the  religious  riches  of  the  Hebrew  people,  in  addi- 
tion to  all  the  teaching  and  influence  of  Jesus,  and 
of  those  whose  lives  were  moulded  by  personal 
contact  with  Him,  as  well  as  all  the  development 
of  the  Christian  centuries.  We  live  in  circum- 
stances which  make  the  world  practically  one ;  when  ^ 
the  wealth  of  the  intellect  of  all  lands  and  ages, 
and  all  motives  toward  religion,  are  the  common 
possessions  of  every  child  in  even  the  most  humble 
circumstances.  And  yet,  with  the  accumulated 
and  improved  heredity,  and  the  influence  of  the 
better  environment,  there  have  been  none  born 
since  Jesus  whom  the  world  thinks  of  comparing 
with  Him.  No  other  land,  no  other  civilization,  no 
other  religion,  nor  all  combined,  after  nearly  two 
thousand  years  of  continued  evolution,  have  pro- 
duced another  Master  who  in  the  slightest  degree 
dims  the  glory  of  the  young  Carpenter  of  Nazareth. 
This  is  a  fact  worthy  of  considerate  attention. 

1  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ,  Fairbairn,  pp.  27,  28. 


252  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

But  this  is  not  all.  By  common  consent  Jesus 
has  been  the  spiritual  teacher  of  all  the  ages  since 
His  words  were  known.  Even  Strauss  does  not 
hesitate  to  say :  "  And  among  these  improvers  of 
the  ideal  of  humanity,  Jesus  stands  at  all  events 
in  the  first  class.  He  introduced  features  into  it 
which  were  wanting  to  it  before,  or  had  continued 
undeveloped ;  reduced  the  dimensions  of  others 
which  prevented  its  universal  application  ;  impor- 
ted to  it,  by  the  religious  aspect  which  He  gave  it, 
a  more  lofty  consecration,  and  bestowed  upon  it, 
by  embodying  it  in  His  own  person,  the  most  vital 
warmth ;  while  the  religious  society  which  took  its 
rise  from  Him  provided  for  this  ideal  the  widest 
acceptance  among  mankind."^  Remember  that, 
after  all  the  pruning  which  this  critic  gives  to  the 
Gospel  narrative,  this  is  his  conclusion  concerning 
what  beyond  doubt  must  be  accorded  to  the  person 
of  the  historic  Jesus. 

Renan  did  not  speak  any  too  strongly  when  he 
wrote  of  Jesus  as  "  the  incomparable  man  to  whom 
the  universal  conscience  has  decreed  the  title  of 
Son  of  God,  and  that  with  justice,  since  He  caused 
religion  to  take  a  step  in  advance  incomparably 
greater  than  any  other  in  the  past  and  probably 
than  any  yet  to  come."  ^ 

^  New  Life  of  Jesus,  Strauss,  Vol.  II.  p.  437. 
2  Life  of  Jesus,  Renan,  p.  64. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF   CHRIST       253 

Has  any  other  spiritual  or  social  teacher  taken 
one  step  in  advance  of  Jesus  in  His  teaching 
concerning  God,  concerning  duty,  concerning  the 
ideal  for  the  individual  and  society  ?  If  so,  I  am 
ignorant  of  his  name.  Moreover,  His  teaching 
is  reverently  and  gratefully  acknowledged  to  be 
the  inspiration  of  nearly  all  the  advanced  thought 
of  our  time,  as  it  has  been  of  every  era  since  He 
became  well  known.  There  is  a  large  difference 
of  opinion  in  the  interpretation  of  His  teachings, 
but  little  concerning  their  value  and  their  leader- 
ship toward  the  far-away  goal  of  humanity.  In- 
deed He  has  both  set  the  goal,  and  is  leading 
the  movement  toward  the  prize.  Whatever  the 
theory  concerning  the  person  of  Jesus,  few  would 
deny  that  with  Him  a  new  era  opened  in  history. 
He  was  the  germ  of  a  new  spiritual  evolution. 
There  is  a  deep  reason  for  the  unanimity  with 
which  modern  civilization  dates  all  events  from 
His  birth.  Principal  Caird  closes  his  work  on 
"  The  Evolution  of  Religion  "  with  these  words : 
"This  long,  unhasting  process  of  the  evolution 
of  religion  is  itself  the  best  evidence  we  can  have 
that  there  is  a  divine  meaning  in  the  world,  and 
that  mankind  have  not  laid  the  sacrifice  of  their 
efforts  and  their  thoughts,  their  prayers  and  their 
tears,  upon  the  altar  of  an  unknown  or  unknow- 


2  54  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

able  God."  That  sentiment  derives  most  of  its 
significance  from  the  fact  that  Jesus  has  lived. 
Whether  He  be  considered  as  the  germ  of  a  new 
evolution,  or  as  the  One  who  more  than  any  other 
has  led  the  movement  of  humanity  toward  the 
divine,  matters  little  in  our  present  discussion. 

There  is  still  another  characteristic  of  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  which  must  not  be  overlooked. 
It  adjusts  itself  to  all  times  and  conditions.  This 
is  not  the  quality  of  "  depth "  which  has  made 
it  the  study  and  inspiration  of  subsequent  ages, 
but  something  altogether  different.  His  teach- 
ings are  principles  of  universal  application,  so 
that  when  an  Oriental  receives  them  he  thinks 
of  Jesus  as  "  The  Oriental  Christ,"  and  when 
Occidentals  study  them  they  think  of  Him  as 
belonging  to  the  West.  This  element  of  adjusta- 
bility, while  difficult  of  definition,  is  as  real  as 
any  force  in  the  history  of  thought.  If  one  is 
asked.  What  was  the  attitude  of  Jesus  toward 
the  problems  which  are  vexing  our  time  .-•  the 
reply  would  be,  Our  problems  are  our  own. 
They  did  not  then  exist.  They  are  the  product 
of  millions  of  forces,  not  the  least  of  which  are 
the  discoveries  of  science.  And  yet  all  must  con- 
fess that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  have  vital  rela- 
tion  to    nineteenth-century    problems,    and    that 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF  CHRIST       255 

they  are  capable  of  solution  only  by  those  who 
approach  them  in  His  spirit  and  apply  to  them 
the  truth  which  He  revealed.  His  ethics  are 
principles,  not  laws.  Laws  have  relation  to 
times  and  places ;  principles  adjust  themselves 
to  all  times  and  all  places. 

Concerning  the  facts  thus  far  enumerated,  there 
is  little,  if  any,  disagreement  among  those  who 
have  tried  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  person  of 
Jesus.  We  have  not  assumed  His  sinlessness  or 
His  divinity ;  we  have  assumed  nothing  but  the 
substantial  historical  accuracy  of  the  Gospels.  A 
careful  study  of  them  shows  us  a  man  who  lived 
in  the  daily  consciousness  of  God  as  Father ; 
who  believed  He  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the 
Deity ;  who  never  argued  or  attempted  to  prove 
anything,  but  simply  said  what  He  saw;  and  His 
words  concerning  the  Being  behind  the  visible 
universe  whom  men  call  God,  have  been  the  most 
convincing  and  satisfying  yet  spoken  by  philoso- 
pher, moralist,  or  seer.  "  He  turned  the  whole 
mighty  current  of  human  history.  He  planted 
himself  deep  in  the  inmost  soul  of  things,  and 
this  great  Christendom  is  throbbing  with  the 
breath  of  His  life  to  this  hour.  And  not  only 
do  our  Christianities,  and  Protestant  Reforma- 
tions, and  our    Landings  of    Pilgrims  taking  pos- 


256  HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

session  of  new  worlds  and  dedicating  them  Christo 
et  EcclesicB,  and  our  Declarations  of  human  rights, 
and  our  suppressions  of  huge  rebellions  against 
God  and  man,  and  whole  races  emancipated,  — 
not  only  do  these  bear  witness  that  Jesus  com- 
muned with  the  heart  of  the  world  until  it  burned 
again ;  but  even  these  wild  vagaries  of  the  imag- 
ination, these  doctrines  of  miraculous  and  immacu- 
late conceptions,  and  trinities,  and  double  natures, 
and  infinite  atonements,  and  I  know  not  what,  — 
these  likewise  show  what  a  hand  of  power  must 
have  been  laid  upon  the  inmost  springs  of  human 
thought  and  feeling  by  Him  who  has  given  occa- 
sion to  such  extravagant  speculations."^  Thus, 
more  than  thirty  years  ago,  wrote  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  conservative  of  Unitarian  divines. 
Those  who  do  not  acknowledge  the  deity  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  simple  students  of  religion  and 
history  readily  and  gratefully  grant  all  the  facts 
essential  to  our  argument  at  this  time. 

Whoever  that  Nazarene  peasant  was.  He  uttered 
the  superlative  message  concerning  the  Deity. 
And  this  man  who  died  young  without  intellect- 
ual or  spiritual  training;  so  far  as  we  know, 
without  the  revelations  which  come  to  most  sen- 

1  Introduction  to  Schenkel's  Character  of  Jesus,  by  Dr.  W.  H. 
Furness,  Vol.  I.  p.  x. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST      257 

sitive  souls  through  long-continued  sorrow  and 
pain ;  who  had  no  teacher  but  nature,  and  few  if 
any  books  but  the  Old  Testament ;  who  was  un- 
known to  the  world,  and  who  by  experience  knew 
not  the  world,  has  been  "the  Great  Teacher"  from 
His  day  to  out  own.  He  reversed  the  ethical  and 
political  standards  of  the  past;  He  antagonized 
the  ideals  of  His  nation ;  He  proved  Himself  a 
brother  in  humanity ;  He  spoke  words  which  the 
ages  have  heeded,  in  language  which  the  ages 
have  loved ;  and,  when  a  mere  youth  having,  by 
devotion  to  what  He  held  to  be  true,  brought  His 
own  fate  on  Himself,  He  disappeared  from  his- 
tory as  a  criminal  —  as  do  all  men  who  dare  to 
face  and  antagonize  the  established  order. 

The  details  as  to  the  change  of  social  customs 
and  ideals  through  His  influence,  and  as  to  the 
debt  of  civilization  to  Him,  are  not  within  the 
limits  of  this  discussion.  The  record  is  written, 
and  all  who  will  may  read.  Our  one  question 
is.  Can  this  unique  Being  be  accounted  for  by 
heredity  and  environment.?  If  not,  there  will 
remain  another  question  about  which  we  have 
positive  convictions,  but  to  which  we  shall  not  at 
this  time  attempt  an  answer. 

One  of  two  forms  of  heredity  must  be  invoked 
by  those  who  would  explain  the  person  of  Jesus 


258 


HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 


as  they  account  for  other  men,  viz.  Direct  Hered- 
ity, or  Atavism.  But  when  we  turn  from  this 
young  man,  who  was  the  world's  Great  Teacher, 
to  His  mother,  Mary,  and  His  reputed  father, 
Joseph,  there  is  nothing  whatever  in  them  to  indi- 
cate that  they  were  His  parents.  Art,  poetry,  and 
the  religious  spirit  have  idealized  Mary,  but  when 
we  leave  those  ideal  realms  and  come  to  the  common 
world  of  fact,  we  find  nothing  remarkable  in  her. 
Raphael  and  Murillo  have  painted  her  as  surpass- 
ingly beautiful  and  spiritual,  but  history  shows 
nothing  unique,  either  in  her  appearance  or  her 
character.  She  differed  not  greatly  from  other 
peasant  maidens  of  the  land  and  time.  Neither 
Joseph  nor  Mary  apparently  were  possessed  of 
exceptional  ability  or  remarkable  spiritual  insight. 
It  may  be  said  that  comparatively  little  is  known 
of  women  in  our  own  time,  that  probably  in  that 
time  they  lived  in  still  greater  seclusion,  and 
that  therefore  it  is  entirely  conceivable  that  Mary 
may  have  been  a  spiritual  genius,  as  the  mother 
of  Goethe  was  an  intellectual  genius.  If  that 
were  true,  it  would  be  expected  that  some  indica- 
tion of  the  fact  would  appear  in  her  other  children, 
but  they  were,  with  one  possible  exception,  very 
commonplace.  They  had  no  appreciation  of 
Jesus,  and  showed  no  signs  of  relationship  to  Him. 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF  CHRIST 


259 


If  there  was  any  such  genius,  it  must  have  come 
by  way  of  His  mother,  and  there  is  no  evidence 
that  she  was  possessed  either  of  exceptional  char- 
acter, exceptional  ability,  or  exceptional  spirit- 
ual insight.  The  Roman  Church  has  almost 
apotheosized  Mary,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  process  began  with  Jesus.  From  what 
He  was,  an  inference  was  drawn  concerning  what 
His  mother  must  have  been.  If,  however,  there 
had  been  nothing  known  of  Jesus,  and  nothing 
except  what  is  recorded  in  the  New  Testament 
known  about  Mary,  there  is  no  probability  that 
from  the  knowledge  of  the  mother  the  Church 
would  have  created  its  claims  concerning  the 
unique  character  and  personality  of  the  Son.  In 
His  reputed  parents  is  seen  nothing  of  those  ele- 
ments of  spiritual  and  intellectual  power  which 
made  Jesus  the  Teacher  and  the  Exemplar  of 
succeeding  centuries. 

But  not  only  was  Jesus  unlike  Joseph  and 
Mary ;  He  was  also  without  the  slightest  resem- 
blance, in  all  that  constituted  His  personality, 
to  the  other  members  of  their  family.  Other 
children  were  born  to  those  peasants,  and  all  of 
them  were  as  unlike  Jesus  as  were  Joseph  and 
Mary.  Napoleon  was  a  transcendent  genius,  but 
he  resembled  his  mother  in  face,  figure,  and  char- 


26o  HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

acter;  and  while  he  towered  above  his  family 
as  a  mountain  above  its  foothills,  yet  there  was 
an  evident  family  resemblance,  and  in  him  all 
the  distinguishing  traits  of  the  family  were  pres- 
ent in  superlative  growth.  Not  so  in  that  house- 
hold of  Nazareth.  The  only  other  one  of  its 
members  known  to  the  world  was  James  —  but 
how  unlike  Jesus  he  was!  "The  tendencies  of 
this  James  were,  according  to  the  notices  of  him  by 
the  Apostle  Paul,  strictly  Judaistic  and  in  ecclesi- 
astical tradition  he  is  represented  as  having  lived 
...  as  a  perfect  Essenico-Ebionitish  saint,  in  his 
ascetic  conduct  more  resembling  John  the  Baptist 
than  Jesus.  The  probability  that  he  was  not  the 
real  brother,  but  only  a  cousin  of  Jesus,  has  been 
attempted  to  be  made  out  from  the  fact  that  the 
names  of  James  and  Joses,  which  the  Nazarenes 
give  as  the  names  of  two  brothers  of  Jesus,  are 
stated  elsewhere  by  Matthew  (xxvii.  56)  to  be 
those  of  two  sons  of  another  Mary,  who  is  taken 
to  be  the  same  person  as  John  (xix.  25)  designates 
as  the  sister  of  the  mother  of  Jesus."  ^  In  reply 
it  may  be  said  that  brothers  often  differ.  True ; 
yet  usually  not  in  all  their  characteristics  but  only 
in  the  more  prominent  ones,  while  in  others  they 
strikingly  resemble  each  other.     We  have  not  the 

1  New  Life  of  Jesus,  Strauss,  Vol.  I.  p.  260. 


THE  PROBLEM   OF  THE  PERSON   OF  CHRIST       26 1 

data  for  positive  assertion,  but  so  far  as  we  know, 
these  brothers  resembled  one  another  in  nothing. 
To  be  sure,  James  became  a  Christian,  and  was 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  but  his  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity was  like  that  of  the  Baptist  rather  than  like 
that  of  Jesus.  The  argument  becomes  cumulative 
when  it  is  remembered  that  not  only  were  Jesus 
and  James  unlike,  but  that  they  were  the  most 
alike  of  any  of  the  family.  This  argument  is  sig- 
nificant. Jesus,  if  such  a  figure  may  be  allowed 
in  that  Galilean  household,  was  like  a  swan  in  a 
brood  of  chickens ;  or,  better  perhaps,  like  a  prince 
in  a  household  of  peasants.  A  study  of  the 
family  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  so  far  as  it  is  known, 
furnishes  no  clew  to  the  personality  of  Jesus.  It 
only  complicates  the  problem  which  we  face  when 
we  endeavour  to  account  for  Him  as  the  consum- 
mate flower  of  His  family  and  His  race. 

If  we  hold  to  the  theory  that  He  was  the  nat- 
ural child  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  the  conclusion  is 
inevitable  —  either  He  was  a  genius,  and  to  be 
regarded  as  "  sports  "  are  regarded  in  biology,  or 
He  is  the  result  of  atavism.  According  to  the 
theory  of  atavism,  the  characteristics  of  an  indi- 
vidual are  not  derived  from  his  parents,  but  from 
some  remote  ancestors.  But  here  we  get  no  light. 
What    marvellous    spiritual    prodigies   may   have 


262  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

lived  in  Judea  and  been  hidden  somewhere  in  the 
centuries  before  Jesus  was  born  we  know  not ;  but 
it  is  hard  to  believe  that  any  such  had  existence, 
since  none  could  have  lived  in  circumstances  more 
unfavourable  for  their  manifestation  than  Jesus 
Himself.  From  that  carpenter's  home  in  Naza- 
reth He  became  the  world's  Teacher  and  Leader 
toward  the  divine,  and  if  He  had  ancestors  pos- 
sessed of  the  same  superlative  qualities,  why  did 
not  one  of  them  in  five  hundred  years  exert  influ- 
ence enough  to  cause  a  ripple  on  the  surface  of 
Jewish  society  ?  If  He  is  to  be  accounted  for  by 
atavism,  when  and  where  did  the  ancestor  live 
whom  He  resembled  ?  No  such  name  appears 
anywhere  in  the  long  history  of  the  Jewish  people. 
Moreover,  Jesus  was  unlike  the  heroes  of  His 
nation.  Isaiah  prophesied  the  coming  of  an  ideal 
king,  but  to  him  that  king  was  to  rule  on  an 
earthly  throne,  and  would  be  little  like  the  sover- 
eign in  the  realm  of  spirit  which  Jesus  has  proved 
Himself.  As  we  have  already  noted,  his  country- 
men were  intensely  nationalistic  ;  Jesus  was  uni- 
versal in  His  sympathies.  They  looked  for  the 
day  when  the  world  would  revolve  around  Mount 
Zion ;  He,  when  all  men  would  be  united  in  the 
worship  of  the  one  God  who  is  a  Spirit.  He  be- 
longed to  the  world  at  large  which  He  had  never 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON  OF   CHRIST       263 

seen ;  they  to  the  nation  of  which  they  were  big- 
oted partisans.  If  we  try  to  account  for  Him  by 
atavism,  we  have  to  imagine  the  existence  of  an- 
cestors of  whom  there  is  no  historical  record. 

There  remains  yet  one  other  possible  explana- 
tion which  by  some  is  seriously  and  even  rever- 
ently advanced.  It  is  said  Jesus  was  unique ;  the 
loftiest  height  ever  reached  by  humanity ;  "  the 
one  whose  worship  will  grow  young  without  ceas- 
ing," but  He  was  what  the  biologists  call  a 
"sport."  Let  us  treat  this  theory  with  the  re- 
spect which  it  deserves.  We  freely  grant  that 
nothing  should  ever  be  ascribed  to  the  super- 
natural which  admits  of  a  natural  interpretation. 
What  is  a  "  sport .-'  "  In  science  it  is  "  an  animal 
or  plant,  or  any  part  of  one,  that  varies  suddenly 
or  singularly  from  the  normal  type  or  structure, 
and  is  usually  of  transient  character  and  not 
perpetuated.  A  sport  is  generally  an  individ- 
ual variation  of  apparently  spontaneous  origin." 
(Century  Dictionary.)  Only  in  this  way  can  we 
account  for  the  men  of  supreme  genius,  like 
Luther,  Shakespeare,  Shelley,  and  Keats.  But 
when  this  explanation  is  applied  to  Jesus,  does 
it  satisfy  ?  It  may  be  the  prejudice  of  long 
years  of  Christian  training,  but  for  one  I  must 
pronounce    it    utterly    unsatisfactory.       I    cannot 


264  HEREDITY  AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

co-ordinate  Jesus  even  with  the  men  of  "  supreme 
genius."  If  any  are  content  to  accept  this  ex- 
planation of  that  marvellous  personality  whose 
"  story  will  melt  the  noblest  hearts  "  as  long  as 
men  love  righteousness  and  truth  they  must  surely 
be  allowed  the  privilege,  while  with  equal  earnest- 
ness we  who  also  desire  to  be  loyal  to  the  truth 
find  in  Him  qualities  which  forbid  His  classifica- 
tion even  with  men  of  the  loftiest  genius.  In  the 
first  place,  the  number  of  such  men  who  remain 
unaccounted  for  after  their  mothers  are  known 
as  well  as  their  fathers  is  not  large.  But  the 
mother  of  Jesus  is  known  as  well  as  the  mothers  of 
most  ancients,  and  nothing  either  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament records  or  in  authentic  tradition  warrants 
her  classification  among  the  great  and  silent  souls 
who  have  swayed  the  world  through  their  sons. 
Indeed,  who  shall  constitute  the  list  of  supreme  and 
utterly  lonely  men  of  genius  who,  intellectually  and 
spiritually,  are  like  Melchizedek,  without  father 
and  without  mother.?  Is  there  any  name  which 
forces  itself  upon  attention  except  that  of  Shake- 
speare ?  And  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  wait 
until  the  question  whether  the  real  genius  was 
Shakespeare  or  Bacon  is  settled  before  drawing 
any  very  weighty  inferences  from  him. 

In  this  study  it  will  be  observed  that  nowhere 


THE   PROBLEM   OF   THE   PERSON   OF  CHRIST       265 

has  there  been  the  slightest  mention  of  what  are 
so  generally  recognized  as  the  miraculous  elements 
in  the  person  and  career  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
Those  lie  entirely  outside  the  field  of  our  investi- 
gation. If,  however,  the  validity  of  His  miracles 
is  granted,  it  becomes  still  more  evident  that  the 
presence  of  Jesus  in  the  world  cannot  be  explained 
as  we  explain  that  of  other,  even  of  most  excep- 
tional men.  I  have  great  sympathy  with  Herder 
as  interpreted  by  Strauss.  "  Is  it  necessary,"  asks 
Herder,  "that  fire  should  have  fallen  from  heaven 
two  thousand  years  ago  in  order  to  enable  us  to 
see  the  light  of  the  sun  at  this  day  ?  Must  the 
laws  of  nature  have  been  arrested  in  order  to  con- 
vince us  now  of  the  intrinsic  truth,  beauty,  and 
necessity  of  Christ's  moral  kingdom  ?  Let  us 
rather  thank  God  that  this  kingdom  exists,  and, 
instead  of  brooding  over  miracles,  try  to  compre- 
hend its  true  nature ;  its  nature  itself  must  be  its 
evidence  to  our  minds,  else  all  the  miracles  and 
prophecies  ever  wrought  or  accomplished  are  for 
us  unsaid,  unwrought,  unprofitable."^  The  unique 
character  and  work  of  Jesus  are  not  at  all  depend- 
ent on  the  miraculous  elements  in  the  story  of 
His  life,  and  I  have  chosen  to  omit  them  alto- 
gether from  this  study.     The  incontestable  facts 

^New  Life  of  Jesus,  Strauss,  Vol.  I.  p.  lO. 


266  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

are  quite  wonderful  enough  to  start  the  inquiry 
which  is  here  made ;  the  facts  not  only  of  the 
man  Jesus  when  He  lived  in  Judea  and  Galilee, 
but  also  of  His  posthumous  ministry,  and  His 
influence  which  has  been  so  pervasive  and  vital 
for  nineteen  centuries. 

In  character,  in  spiritual  insight,  in  knowledge 
of  man,  and  of  what  all  men  feel  must  be  the 
truth  of  God ;  in  ability  to  see  into  the  very  heart 
of  "human  life's  mystery"  and  to  penetrate  the 
depth  of  humanity's  need  ;  in  ability  to  speak  the 
word  which  His  own  age  needed  and  all  ages  since 
have  needed,  this  Galilean  peasant,  whose  youth 
and  young  manhood  were  filled  with  monotonous 
toil ;  who  had  never  travelled  ;  who  knew  few  if 
any  books ;  who  had  no  teacher  but  a  sweet  and 
gracious  mother,  has  surpassed  all  the  ideal  heroes. 
In  a  public  ministry  of  only  a  few  months  He 
transcended  the  wisdom  of  the  philosophers,  the 
intellectual  and  spiritual  forces  of  the  universities, 
and,  more  than  any  other,  led  men  —  all  men, 
men  of  the  most  diverse  tastes  and  prejudices  — 
toward  God.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  think  that 
nature,  even  as  glorious  as  that  in  which  His 
youth  was  spent,  taught  Him  all  these  lessons. 
No  great  poet  or  artist  ever  came  from  the  midst 
of  such  scenery.     If  He  is  explained  by  natural 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON  OF  CHRIST       267 

environment,  the  question  remains,  Why  has  na- 
ture produced  no  successor  to  Jesus  ?  Switzer- 
land and  Thibet  have  contributed  no  names  to 
the  list  of  the  world's  intellectual  and  spiritual 
leaders,  or  even  to  that  of  her  great  artists  and 
poets.  Natural  environment  influences  the  body, 
not  much  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  environ- 
ment. But  around  this  Man  the  Oriental  and 
the  Occidental  alike  gather,  and  each  seems  to 
find  in  Him  a  brother,  a  teacher,  and  a  friend. 

There  have  been  many  attempts  to  explain 
the  character  and  personality  of  Jesus.  My  ob- 
ject is  not  to  add  another  to  that  list,  but  rather 
to  show  that  the  data  do  not  exist  which  war- 
rant any  one  in  attempting  to  classify  Him  with 
other  men  as  a  product  of  heredity  and  environ- 
ment. He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  without 
father  and  without  mother.  Whoever  He  was, 
and  whatever  the  explanation  of  His  presence 
on  this  earth  of  ours,  He  was  an  exception 
among  men ;  not  in  such  a  sense  as  to  break 
the  continuity  of  humanity,  but  clearly  to  make 
it  impossible  to  account  for  Him  as  we  account 
for  heroes  and  men  of  genius.  If,  now,  any  of 
my  readers  desire  to  push  their  questioning 
farther,  and  ask.  How,  then,  do  you  explain  His 
presence  .!•  I  must  reply  that  this  is  not   a   book 


268  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

on  theology.  Such  questions  belong  to  the 
sphere  of  theology.  It  is  enough  here  to  show 
that  the  usual  theories  fail  when  applied  to  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  For  myself,  it  is  easier  and  in 
every  way  more  satisfactory  to  believe  that  the 
Man  Jesus  was  chosen  of  God  to  manifest  His 
glory  unto  men,  as  no  other  man  ever  was  ;  to 
believe  that  the  unique  Man  was  prepared  by 
birth  and  discipline  for  His  unique  and  awful 
service,  than  to  attempt  to  classify  Him  with 
Homer  and  Plato,  Dante  and  Shakespeare,  even 
if  He  be  given  the  highest  place  among  all  who 
have  influenced  and  taught  and  served  the  race. 
It  is  enough  here,  however,  to  show  that  so  far 
as  can  be  seen  He  was  not  the  sole  product  of 
the  narrow  and  bigoted  people  among  whom 
He  was  born  ;  and  that  the  serene  skies  above 
Nazareth,  His  toiling  and  oppressed  countrymen, 
His  life  as  a  working  carpenter,  and  the  tyran- 
nical rule  of  the  conquering  Romans,  could  not 
have  made  Him  the  supreme  spiritual  Teacher 
and  Leader,  the  One  who  has  done  most  to  lead 
humanity  toward  the  divine. 

What,  then,  shall  we  believe  .-•  I  prefer  to  go 
to  my  New  Testament  for  my  answer,  and  since 
this  book  is  not  intended  to  solve  such  problems, 
to  the  New  Testament  I  must  send  my  readers 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  THE   PERSON   OF  CHRIST 


269 


for  their  answer.  For  myself,  I  am  satisfied  that 
there  is  a  profound  and  glorious  truth  in  these 
words  spoken  to  Mary  by  the  Angel  of  the 
Annunciation  :  "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come 
upon  thee;  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High 
shall  overshadow  thee ;  wherefore  also  that  which 
is  to  be  born  shall  be  called  holy,  the  Son  of 
God."     (Luke  i.  35.) 


CONCLUSION 

In  this  book  I  have  tried  to  set  forth  clearly  and 
fairly  some  facts  illustrating  the  relation  of  the 
laws  of  heredity  and  of  environment  to  human 
life,  human  conduct,  and  human  belief,  including 
religious  life  and  thought.  Among  the  matters 
emphasized  as  of  greatest  importance  are  these: 

However  bad  the  vital  inheritance,  it  may  be 
modified  and  changed  by  good  environment. 

Therefore  it  is  the  duty  of  Christian  workers 
and  thinkers  to  be  very  careful  that  those  whom 
they  would  help  to  elevate  and  save  have  not  only 
a  correct  presentation  of  truth,  but  also  a  helpful 
environment  to  minister  to  the  growth  of  that 
truth. 

The  influence  of  natural  causes  on  the  will  is 
great  and  constant,  but  the  testimony  of  con- 
sciousness is  in  favour  of  human  freedom,  and 
that  testimony  is  final. 

Until  Christian  philosophy  has  achieved  a  new 
and  profounder  adjustment  of  the  facts  of  life  to 
the  consciousness  of  human  freedom,  the  con- 
sciousness   of    responsibility,    the    innate    recog- 

270 


CONCLUSION  271 

nition  of  the  "ought"  and  "ought  not,"  afford  a 
sufficient  basis  for  appeals  to  men  not  to  yield 
themselves  as  slaves  to  heredity.  Vice,  pauper- 
ism, and  crime  will  not  be  eradicated  until  they 
are  regarded  as  symptoms  of  a  deep  and  deadly 
disease,  the  tendency  to  which  is  remorselessly 
transmitted,  and  which  can  be  helpfully  treated 
only  by  a  radical  and  long-continued  change  in 
environment. 

All  theories  of  education  should  be  tested  by 
the  facts  which  have  been  brought  out  in  this  dis- 
cussion, it  being  the  chief  credential  of  the  new 
education  that  it  studies  the  child  before  it  gives 
the  child  anything  to  study. 

The  welfare  and  perpetuity  of  the  home  re- 
quire a  wise  and  careful  consideration  of  the  two 
subjects,  heredity  and  environment,  in  order  that 
those  not  properly  mated  may  never  be  married, 
and  that  parents  may  adapt  the  training  of  their 
children  to  their  individual  peculiarities. 

That  faith  alone  which  of  all  the  religions  of 
the  world  supplies  motives  sufficient  to  inspire 
even  the  most  degraded  to  rise  against  and  tri- 
umph over  evil  heritage,  may  be  presumed  to  rest 
on  an  immovable  foundation.  It  has  the  strongest 
of  possible  arguments  in  its  favour,  the  argument 
of  redeemed  human  lives. 


272  HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN  PROBLEMS 

Finally,  the  natural  laws  of  which  we  have  been 
treating  have  one  signal  exception ;  one  supreme 
fiofure  stands  above  their  utmost  reach.  What- 
ever  may  be  the  conclusion  concerning  other  men, 
it  is  impossible  to  account  for  the  personality  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  by  either  heredity  or  environ- 
ment, or  by  both.  Whether  He  be  human  or 
divine,  or  both  in  one.  He  is  in  the  history  of  the 
race  absolutely  and  unapproachably  unique. 

The  study  of  these  questions  which  force  them- 
selves so  constantly  upon  the  thought  of  all  who 
observe  with  any  care  the  facts  of  life  is  not  with- 
out its  beneficial  effect.  He  who  knows  what 
men  are,  and  what  their  tendencies  are,  will  not 
easily  misjudge  his  brother.  The  growth  of  that 
charity  which  thinketh  no  evil  is  greatly  stimu- 
lated by  accurate  knowledge  of  our  fellow-men 
and  of  the  conditions  in  which  their  lives  are 
passed. 

He  who  understands  the  vitality  of  an  evil  act 
will  hesitate  long  before  he  does  that  which  can 
never  be  recalled,  and  which,  like  Frankenstein, 
may  return  again  and  again  to  disturb  and  make 
miserable  the  author  of  its  being.  If  we  could 
retain  within  ourselves  the  consequences  of  our 
misdeeds,  we  might  perhaps  be  willing  to  take  the 
chances  as  to  their  results ;  but  no  man  liveth  to 


CONCLUSION  273 

himself,  and  the  indiscretions  of  youth  and  the 
malice  of  age  alike  reach  far  into  the  future,  and 
determine  the  tendencies  of  those  whom  we  shall 
never  see  until  we  stand  face  to  face  with  them  in 
the  judgment-day. 

But  evil,  after  all,  has  in  itself  the  seeds  of  its 
own  decay.  In  a  far  truer  sense  than  we  often 
dream  "the  wages  of  sin  is  death."  On  the  other 
hand,  righteousness,  and  that  alone,  has  in  itself 
the  assurance  of  endless  growth.  The  law  of 
reproduction  for  good  reaches  as  far  as  the  law 
of  reproduction  for  evil,  and  while  evil  tends  to 
death,  good  has  the  promise  of  eternal  life.  The 
hope  of  the  future  is  in  "  the  outpopulating  power 
of  a  Christian  stock."  Whatever  the  tendencies 
in  humanity,  and  wherever  they  come  from,  the 
evolution  of  history  points  toward  a  time  when 
man  will  be  "no  longer  half  akin  to  brute;" 
when  that  law  of  nature  whose  function  is  the 
conservation  of  that  which  has  come  from  the 
past  will  receive  and  transmit  to  the  future  only 
that  which  will  make  for  blessing.  No  man  need 
despair  because  of  his  ancestry ;  no  one  by  birth 
is  altogether  bad ;  in  every  one  are  tendencies 
toward  holiness  which  will  surely  assert  them- 
selves if  the  opportunity  is  given;  therefore  the 
endeavour  of  all  should  be  to  live  so  constantly  in 


274  HEREDITY   AND   CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 

the  environment  of  God  that  purity  and  virtue, 
Hght  and  love,  may  grow  as  naturally  and  surely 
from  the  evil  conditions  of  their  lives  as  lilies  and 
roses  from  the  soil  of  their  gardens.  Nature  is 
beneficent,  and  all  her  laws  are  ministers  of  love 
—  this  is  the  gospel  which  is  written  so  clearly 
in  the  history  of  the  race  that  all  who  will  may 
read. 

In  the  Vatican  Gallery  in  Rome  is  the  famous 
antique  group,  Laocoon  and  his  sons  in  the  coils 
of  the  serpents.  The  awful  agony  of  the  men, 
depicted  in  the  straining  and  protuberant  muscles, 
the  look  of  despair,  the  futile  fight  against  the 
inevitable,  the  slimy  folds  and  hissing  tongues  of 
the  monsters,  are  real  as  life  and  terrible  as  death. 
This  group  has  been  and  by  many  is  still  regarded 
as  a  true  symbol  of  human  existence.  To  them 
the  serpents  which  have  come  up  out  of  the  sea 
of  unfathomable  mystery  which  surrounds  our 
mortal  life  are  the  two  great  facts  of  heredity  and 
environment,  and  in  their  silent  and  remorseless 
embrace,  with  griefs,  struggles,  agonies,  despairs 
unutterable,  millions  yearly  are  crushed,  and 
crushed  at  length  to  death  ;  and  still  the  slimy 
folds  coil  on  and  on  through  the  centuries,  stain- 
ing the  earth  with  tears  and  blood. 

Such  is  life  to  those  who  never  look  beyond  the 


CONCLUSION  275 

material  world.  Another  group  in  Rome  is  to 
my  mind  truer  to  the  facts  of  human  life,  albeit 
some  of  the  greatest  of  those  facts  are  in  the 
future.  In  the  Church  of  the  Cappuchini  is 
Guido's  painting  of  St.  Michael  and  the  Dragon. 
Upon  the  angel's  face  the  sunlight  rests.  Eternal 
youth  flashes  from  his  eyes  and  breathes  from  his 
body ;  beneath  his  feet,  prostrate  and  helpless, 
is  the  dragon,  with  the  spear  of  light  at  his  head. 
It  is  the  victory  of  good  over  evil.  The  marble 
group  is  the  symbol  of  what  life  would  be  without 
God  revealed  in  Christ,  and  of  what  it  now  seems 
to  those  who  have  no  faith ;  the  painting  is  the 
symbol  of  what  it  is  to  men  of  spiritual  vision. 
Between  the  two  symbols  stretch,  no  doubt,  ages 
of  toil  and  conflict,  of  struggle  and  death  ;  but 
nature's  laws  are  not  merciless ;  they  are  expres- 
sions of  Him  who  Himself  is  love ;  and  sometime 
eternal  Love  will  realize  the  ideal  depicted  in  the 
painting.  Sometime  the  race,  purified  and  re- 
newed by  vital  relations  with  Hirn  who  is  the  life, 
will  bless  the  sweep  and  universality  of  that  law 
which  often  now  works  so  mysteriously  and  fate- 
fully,  the  law  which  conserves  the  blessings  of  the 
generations,  accumulates  them,  and  sends  them 
down  in  streams  of  light  to  make  glad  generations 
yet  to  come.     Then  what  seem  now  to  the  faith- 


2/6 


HEREDITY  AND  CHRISTIAN   PROBLEMS 


less  to  be  serpents  shall  be  regarded  as  angels  of 
mercy,  whose  beneficent  ministry  will  never  fail, 
as  slowly  but  surely  they  lead  the  race  toward 
the  "one  far-off  divine  event  to  which  the  whole 
creation  moves,"  in  which  every  man  and  all 
men  shall  have  reached  the  stature  of  the  ful- 
ness of  Christ. 


INDEX 


Adams  family,  41. 

Addison,  40. 

yEschylus,  38. 

Agrippina,  43,  45. 

Alcoholism,  176. 

Allegri,  39. 

"All    Sorts    and    Conditions   of 

Men,"  168. 
Amati,  Andrea,  39. 
Andover  House,  167,  194. 
Animals,  effects  of  environment 

on,  54. 
Aristotle,  40. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  122,  123.    . 
Arnold,  Thomas,  40. 
Association  of  East  Side  Workers, 

195. 
Atavism,  8,  25,  28,  72,  77,  83,  84, 

109,  258,  261. 
Aurelius,  Marcus,  10,  43,  72. 
Aymaras,  56. 

Bach  family,  6,  39,  142. 

Bacon,  40,  264. 

Bailli  de  Suffren  Saint-Tropez,  24. 

Bassano,  39. 

Beethoven,  39. 

Behrends,  Dr.  A.  J.  F.,  147. 

Bellini,  39. 

Bentham,  40. 

Bentivoglios,  24. 


Besant,  Walter,  168. 

"  Bitter  Cry  of  Outcast  London," 

146,  165. 
Blumenbach,  59. 
Bossuet,  41. 

"  Botanical  Garden,"  178. 
Bourbon  family,  6,  103,  142. 
Brahmins,  56, 
Brooks,  9,  II. 
Browning  Hall,  167. 
Browning,  Mrs.,  137. 
Buccones,  24. 
Buddha,  249. 
Bunyan,  71. 
Burdach,  64. 

"  Bureau  of  Heredity,"  188. 
Burns,  38,  209. 
Burrows,  Dr.,  29. 
Bushnell,  Dr.,  115. 
Byron,  38,  41,  43,  45. 

Cable,  George  W.,  197,  204. 
Caird,  Principal,  253. 
Caligula,  10,  43,  45. 
Calvin,  John,  42. 
Calvinism,  233. 
Capitones,  24. 
Carlisle,  Sir  A.,  36. 
Carlyle,  65. 
Caro,  M.  E.,  4I. 
Carracci,  39. 


277 


2/8 


INDEX 


Charity  Organization  Society,  156, 

163. 
Children's  Aid  Society,  66,  170, 

193- 

Chretien  family,  182. 

"Christian  Nurture,"  115. 

Churches'  duty  towards  pauper- 
ism, 163. 

Church  Exchange,  163. 

Coffee  Houses,  193. 

Coleridge,  32,  38. 

College  settlements,  194. 

Commodus,  10,  43. 

Commune,  Children  of  the,  176. 

Conde  family,  28. 

Congeniality,  III. 

Congregational  Union  of  Lon- 
don, 164. 

Conscience,  92. 

Consciousness,  92. 

Conversion,  85. 

Correggio,  39. 

Crime,  34,  46,  159,  182,  187. 

Crothers,  Dr.  T.  D.,  174,  178. 

Cromwell,  lo. 

Culture,  121. 

Dale,  Dr.,  194. 

Dante,  41,  242,  268. 

Darnley,  44. 

Darwin,  Charles,  4,  9,  14,  24,  56, 

59- 
Darwin,  Erasmus,  177. 
Darwin  family,  6,  41. 
de'  Medicis,  103. 
Despine,  Dr.,  182. 
de  Stael,  Madame,  40. 
Dipsomania,  31,  176. 
Disease,  15,  28. 


Diversity,  Law  of,  2,  23,  34. 
Divorce,  103,  112. 
Domitian,  10. 
Domitius,  45. 

Dugdale,   R.  L.,  46,    142,    143, 
145,  183. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  72,  76. 
Elam,  9,  24,  30,  32,  34,  177,  234. 
Eliot,  George,  104. 
"  Elsie  Venner,"  73. 
Emerson,  122,  123,  214. 
English  Building  Acts,  1 61. 
Environment,  definition  of,  2,  53; 

changes  heredity,  160. 
Esquimau,  56. 
Esquirol,  M.,  29. 
Evolution,  doctrine  of,  73,  120. 
"  Evolution  of  Religion,"  253. 

Fairbairn,  Principal,  251. 

Faustina,  43. 

Flaxman,  39. 

Forbes,  D.,  56. 

Foundling     Hospital,     London, 

156. 
Frankenstein,  272. 
Frederick  William  L,  27. 
French  Revolution,  60. 
Fresh  Air  Funds,  195. 

Galton,  9,  12,  24,  37,  40,  41. 

Garfield,  128. 

Genius,  40. 

Germanicus,  lo,  45. 

Goethe,  38,  41,  43,  209,  242,  258. 

Gospel,  The,  239. 

Guido,  275. 

Guise  family,  6,  28. 


INDEX 


279 


Hackel,  14,  16, 

Hallam,  40. 

Hall,  Dr.  Stanley,  127,  133. 

Hapsburgs,  216. 

Henry  IV.,  10. 

Herder,  265. 

Heredity,  definition  of,  2,  3.  The 
law  recognized,  4,  102.  Direct, 
7,  174,  258.  Reversional,  8, 
25.  Collateral  or  Indirect,  8, 
174.  Of  Influence,  8.  Excep- 
tions to  the  law,  9,  10. 

Hill,  Octavia,  153,  169. 

HohenzoUern  family,  103. 

Holmes,  Dr.,  74,  187,  234. 

Holy  Spirit,  86,  225-230. 

Homer,  268. 

Housing  of  the  working  classes, 
149. 

Hugo,  38. 

Hull  House,  167,  194. 

Hutchison,  Dr.,  30. 

Huxley,  Professor,  80,  232. 

Indians,  American,  59. 
Indiscriminate  giving,  156. 
Insanity,  108,  176. 
Intemperance,  30,   75,  87,    109, 

142,   145,   154,  173,  178,  187, 

192,  200. 
Isaiah,  245,  246,  247,  262. 

James  I,  44. 
Josephus,  249. 
Juke,  Margaret,  142. 
"Jukes,  The,"  46,  159. 

Kant,  98,  137. 
Keats,  263. 


Labeones,  24. 

Lamarck,  9. 

Lambert,  Edward,  9,  25. 

Laocoon,  274. 

Laziness,  47,  142. 

Lecky,  44. 

Leighton,  123. 

"Lend  a  Hand,"  187. 

Letizia  Ramolino,  43,  61, 

Lewes,  George  Henry,  104. 

Licentiousness,    143,    145,    159, 

192. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  25,  42,  128. 
Lislet-Geoffrey,  26. 
Longevity,  28. 
Louis  XIV,  10,  204. 
Lowell,  Josephine  Shaw,  156. 
Low,  William,  156. 
Lucas,  9,  10. 
Luther,  Martin,  42,  242,  263. 

Macaulay,  40,  45. 

McAuley,  Jerry,  71. 

Maisenhaus,  Vienna,  155. 

Mansfield  House,  167. 

Marie  Louise,  43,  61. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  44. 

Massachusetts  Reformatory,  65. 

Materialism,  81. 

Maudsley,  24,  81,  82,  84,  93,  94. 

Melier,  M.,  57. 

Mendelssohn,  39. 

Meyer,  H.  C,  149,  150. 

Milton,  38. 

Mivart,  g. 

Model  tenements,  170,  193. 

Mongolians,  59. 

Montesquieu,  122. 

Montmorency  family,  6,  28. 


28o 


INDEX 


Moore,  Dr.,  36. 
Morel,  9,  30,  31,  176. 

Moses,  245. 
Mozart,  39. 
Murillo,  39,  258. 
Musical  talent,  39,  77. 

Napoleon  I,  43,  60,  259. 

Napoleon  II,  43,  60. 

Napoleon  family,  103. 

Nasones,  24. 

"  Natural  causes,"  230. 

Near-sightedness,  15,  59. 

Nero,  45. 

Neurosis,  82. 

"New  Birth,"  221,  224. 

Nightingale,  Florence,  42. 

OiNOMANIA,  31. 

Opium  habit,  32. 

«  Oriental  Christ,  The,"  254. 

"  Original  sin,"  220,  236. 

Overcrowding,  149. 

Oxford  House,  167. 

Pangenesis,  15. 
Pascal,  41. 
Paul,  Jean,  138. 
Paul,  Saint,  78,  160. 
Pauperism,  46.    Hereditary,  143- 

144.     Induced,  143-145. 
Peek,  Francis,  139. 
Pericles,  10. 
Personality,  80. 
Philo,  249. 

Physical  Science,  73,  81,  82,  91. 
Plants,  effects  of  environment  on, 

54- 
Plato,  249,  268. 


Plutarch,  27. 

Poetic  talent,  37. 

Polytechnic    Institute,    London, 

166. 
"  Psychological  Journal,"  30. 
"  Psychologie  Naturelle,"  182. 

QUATREFAGES,  24. 
Quechua  Indians,  56. 

Raphael,  39,  258. 

Renan,  Ernest,  243,  244,  252. 

Retribution,  233-236. 

Ribot,  4,  7,  8,  9,  II,  24,  26,  35, 

64,  67,  72,  96,  176,  182,  183. 
Ruskin,  John,  169. 

Saint  Michael  and  the  Dragon, 

275- 
Salvation,  219-225,  233. 
Schopenhauer,  il. 
Seneca,  40. 
Sensuality,  77. 
Sexdigitism,  25. 
Shaftesbury,  Lord,  149,  152. 
Shairp,  Principal,  123. 
Shakespeare,   41,   42,   242,    263, 

264,  268. 
Shelley,  137,  242,  263. 
Smith,  Adam,  137. 
"  Socialism  and  Christianity,"  147. 
Social  problems,  117. 
Solidarity  of  the  Race,  102,  202- 

212. 
Spencer,  Herbert,  13,  14,  16,  20, 

21,  91,  134,  135,  136. 
"  Sports,"  242,  261,  263. 
Strauss,  252,  260,  265. 
Stuart  family,  103,  216. 


INDEX 


:8i 


Temper,  79. 

Tenement  House  Act,  150. 

Teniers,  39. 

Te-to-tums,  193. 

Thompson,  Dr.  Bruce,  186. 

Thorwaldsen,  39. 

Thucydides,  10. 

Titian,  39. 

Toynbee  Hall,  167. 

Transmission  of  characteristics  of 
species,  5.  Peculiarities  of 
race,  5.  Family  and  individ- 
ual characteristics,  5.  Ac- 
quired characteristics,  12,  14- 
22,  75. 

Turgot  family,  28. 

Uniformity,  Law  of,  2,  23,  34. 
University  Colony,  194. 


University  Extension,  194. 
University  Settlements,  194. 

Van  Der  Velde,  39. 

Vandyke,  39. 

Variation,  causes  of,  12,  15,  16. 

Veronese,  Paul,  39. 

Vespasian,  10. 

Vice,  34,  47,  109. 

Virtue,  48. 

Wallace,  9. 

Watt,  James,  40. 

Weismann,  August,  4,  13,  14,  16, 

18,  20,  22,  24,  75. 
Whittier  House,  167,  194. 
Will,  Its  nature,  96. 
"  Will,  On  the,"  73. 
Wordsworth,  42. 
Wundt,  96. 


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